Fire Protection and Prevention — Worked Decisions

A painter stores solvent-soaked wipes beside an unguarded heater. Identify an immediate control without attempting to calculate a hypothetical ignition temperature.

A trainee claims that all extinguishers work only by removing oxygen. Correct the claim using the tetrahedron.

An extension-board cabinet is smoking and energized. A worker proposes a bucket of water because the cabinet contains ordinary plastic insulation. Assess the proposal.

A steel installer wants to grind next to timber formwork. The site has no documented combustible survey, no fire-watch assignment and a gap to the floor below. Can work start based on the claim that combustibles are more than 35 ft away?

A permit for thermal cutting specifies a site-approved watch until a documented clearance inspection, with follow-up inspections based on hidden-void risk. A foreman argues the watch must always end exactly 30 minutes after cutting.

A training diagram shows a 6,000-sq-ft building under U.S. OSHA 29 CFR 1926.150(c)(1)(i). For this U.S. construction-rule comparison only, calculate the simple area ratio using one 2-A unit per 3,000 sq ft (or major fraction) and explain what the result cannot certify in the Philippines.

An idealized solid has mass $m=2.0\,\mathrm{kg}$ and constant specific heat $c=900\,\mathrm{J/(kg\cdot K)}$. If it heats uniformly by $25\,\mathrm{K}$ without phase change, calculate $Q$; decide whether ignition follows automatically.

Two alternative cutting stations are available: Station A has packaged solvent nearby and no reliable separation; Station B permits off-site pre-cutting with no hot work in the storage room. Compare controls.

A temporary scaffold store blocks one of two signed escape routes on a construction floor; a hot-work permit remains open. Decide whether work may continue while the store is moved later.

An inspection finds a portable extinguisher labeled for ordinary combustibles behind stacked plywood while paint thinner is transferred nearby. The supervisor states that the extinguisher count is unchanged. Evaluate readiness.

A worksite alarm sounds after smoke is seen near a welding enclosure. The responding team knows the site name but not the exact access gate, cylinder locations or missing-worker status. Prepare a safe handoff.