The Council of Ministers has approved this week a new Fire Security Regulation in industrial establishments with the logical requirement of “establishing that the design of the establishments must minimize the possibility of propagation both exterior and interior and will have the adequate means of occupant evacuation, in addition to having the detection, control, extinction and alarm facilities that are necessary.” And it will be determined that industrial establishments request the periodic inspection of their facilities “to a control body enabled for these tasks, at least, every five years.”
The current one has also included, last Friday, the presentation, at the Mapfre Foundation, of the document ‘White Book of fire prevention and its consequences. 112 recommendations. Zero objective victims. Deaths and serious injured. ‘ From the general field, he points out that “more than 120,000 annual fires are produced. The payment made by the insurers amounted to 379 million with an average per fire of 8,221 euros. These data do not contemplate the impact of these fires on the environment or the loss of numerous jobs, many definitively. It can be said that “nothing is more unsustainable than a fire.”
In this context, the S2E Alliance (Alliance for Security and Sustainability in the building) has requested the consensus of the industry for the review of the CTE (Technical Building Code) on fire in case of fire, with special focus on the facades “depending on the use of the building, to limit external propagation in case of fire.” José Manuel Fernández, spokesman Alliance S2E, summarizes some guidelines to take into account: «If we want to reduce victims and fire damage, we must prioritize effective measures: early detection with smoke alarms, risk control in increasingly electrified buildings and standards that limit the external propagation of the fire on the facades. Security must be based on technical knowledge ».
Safer buildings
From URSA, manufacturer of insulating materials on fire barriers, its Marketing Manager, Marina Alonso highlights “the relevance of intumescent sectorization barriers on the facade to limit the propagation of fire, with the use of incombustible materials such as mineral wool.” And in the case of Hisplyt (Association of Brick and Texas Manufacturers), Elena Santiago, its general secretary, reflects on prevention guidelines in buildings (after all, offices and industry are buildings): «It would be necessary to ensure that materials that have the best category in fire reaction are used, such as ceramic brick, which is not combustible and if fire does not contribute to it and does not produce flames, fumes, or toxic gases. The problem is that the regulations have not changed for 20 years and has become obsolete so it would have to be updated to continue guaranteeing maximum fire resistance from the interior walls ».
Anti -capital data
As for technology, applicable to fires and risks in general (leaks, temperature increases, etc.), technology is updated in aspects such as digitalization and sensory, in times of the ‘Internet of things’. As Juan Luis Gómez, researcher of the Catastrophes Chair of the Pontifical University Comillas points out: «The prevention of extreme environmental events (such as fires or floods) requires detailed monitoring of the environment. This optimizes both emergency management and the best precision of predictions, by having environmental parameters with greater resolution. To do this, it is essential to have remote and recurring measurements; In this sense, satellite images and sensors are very promising, with examples such as HAP platforms, which operate at great altitudes and offer greater coverage and operation for prolonged periods ».
In any case, Gomez underlines the importance of the sensors deployed in the field, which offer local and immediate information with relatively economic maintenance. “Its implementation (adds) can be optimized by satellite data and models that identify critical areas, allowing not only early fire detection, but also monitoring the weather conditions associated with fire and timely communication to communities to facilitate suppression and evacuation in emergency situations.”
From Siemens, on both sides of the matter (being a manufacturer and developer and having large business centers), they have the importance of data, the correlation of smoke records, combustion gases, humidity wind, etc. Valentí Sintes, responsible for Portfolio de Buildings in Siemens, affects the importance of “digitizing everything installed, connecting the physical world with the digital, to the cloud, with remote reviews that avoid unnecessary displacements and that improve the life cycle level of the elements, thanks to predictive maintenance.”
An environment in which it earns whole, as the specialist points out, a technology used in the universe of architecture, of construction, the BIM (Building Management System), which allows an integral, continuous vision of the spaces that includes the programming of the control of emergency lighting.
The scenario lodged in the cloud to which Sintes includes company applications such as the specific Building X Fire solution, which provides remote access and real -time supervision of fire safety systems with safe and encrypted connectivity. Aspects for improved implementation, as in cases of geolocation or colored coding, contribute to better prevention before all kinds of accidents, and a better reaction in case of problems.
The BIM, a key technology in architecture, is also decisive in the prevention of claims
Also on the ground, Grupo Fire, a company dedicated to the supply, installation and maintenance of any type of fire solution, resorts to BIM to assess the possibilities of planning, systems management and evacuation (especially in large projects). As Ángel Duque, head of the Fire Group Business Development, points out, all this technological development must be accompanied by “personnel training and mentalization”, with the obvious need for the update and normative adaptation: “We are ahead of the legislation, for example, in the case of the sprinklers system. The regulations focus on the basics and you have to go further ». Beyond the mere (and very necessary) Aguas and Hydrant Supply actions, of low pressure hydraulic tests, the traditional luminescent signaling, etc.
Vázquez comments how, in the case of advances in extinguishers “efficacy has been increased, to be able to turn off more fire, act against flammable liquids, to progress in the encapsulation of fire and smoke.” Progress as in cases of “thermographic chambers, combined smoke detectors and temperature increase, in a better and better data programming environment and connectivity.”
Duties are, in any case, «to equate to countries like the United States or as some Europeans. I consider that companies invest in air conditioning and lighting, but they are not so aware of the importance of security (many times, it reacts because it forces the regulations, or because a accident has happened another company). It is still a subject to approve ».
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