Occupational Health, Safety, Fire Prevention and Firefighting in Machinery Spaces
This domain covers accident prevention in the machinery space and the response to fire, where the engineer is usually the first person present.
Prevention
Permit to work, risk assessment, lock-out/tag-out isolation, and gas testing before enclosed space entry: oxygen about 20.9%, plus hydrocarbons, H2S and CO. Hot work needs a permit and a fire watch afterwards. Machinery spaces concentrate ignition sources: fuel leaks onto hot surfaces, oil-soaked lagging, electrical faults.
Firefighting
The fire triangle is fuel, oxygen and heat. Class B oil fires are fought with foam, CO2 or water mist, never a solid water jet. Fixed systems include CO2 total flooding with pre-discharge alarm and delay, high-expansion foam and water mist. Know the quick-closing valves on fuel tanks, remote fuel pump stops, fire dampers and the emergency fire pump.
Worked example
A fire starts at a purifier. Correct sequence: raise the alarm, stop the purifier and the fuel pump, close the quick-closing valve, attack with the nearest suitable extinguisher or water mist if it is safe, then close the space down. If fixed CO2 is released, the space must be sealed, everyone accounted for, and nobody re-enters until it is safe.
Traps
Opening the door of a fire room to look inside, which feeds oxygen; using water on an oil fire; releasing CO2 before the muster count; leaving the fire watch too early after hot work.