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HospitalityThe monthly fire extinguisher check
The portable fire extinguishers provided for hotel staff stay in their place, charged and ready. You check each one: where it is mounted, that it can be reached without risk, that it is charged, and that the monthly visual inspection and the annual maintenance are done and recorded. It follows OSHA's federal rule for portable fire extinguishers.
Free to startScenarios
- Extinguishers provided for employee use: every requirement of the rule applies.
- Extinguishers provided but not meant for employee use, with an emergency action plan and a fire prevention plan: only inspection, maintenance and hydrostatic testing apply.
- A written fire safety policy of immediate and total evacuation on the alarm, with no extinguishers in the workplace: the employer is exempt from the extinguisher rule.
The steps
- Find the extinguisher in its designated place.
- Check that it is mounted, located and identified so staff can reach it without risk of injury.
- Check that it is fully charged and operable.
- Do the monthly visual inspection.
- Check that the annual maintenance check is done and its date recorded.
- If an extinguisher is out for maintenance or recharging, make sure equivalent protection takes its place.
- Check that the hydrostatic test is up to date, done by trained persons at the interval for its type.
Safety rules that stop the station
- Only approved portable fire extinguishers count.
- An extinguisher that fails a hydrostatic test, or is not fit for testing, is removed from service and from the workplace.
To pass
- For Class A fires the travel distance to an extinguisher is 75 feet (22.9 m) or less; for Class B, 50 feet (15.2 m) or less.
- The annual maintenance record is kept for one year after the last entry or the life of the shell, whichever is less.
- Hydrostatic test intervals follow Table L-1: for example, 5 years for carbon dioxide and 12 years for stored pressure dry chemical with mild steel, brazed brass or aluminum shells.
- Stored pressure dry chemical extinguishers that need a 12-year hydrostatic test are emptied and maintained every 6 years.
Official source
Federal · OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.157
29 CFR 1910.157, Portable fire extinguishers
GovInfo publishes 29 CFR 1910.157 free: placement, inspection, maintenance, hydrostatic testing and training for portable fire extinguishers.
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