Introduction to Fire Safety Management

Table 8.3
Minimum separation distances

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Introduction to Fire Safety Management
152
developed and implemented that:
➤
Keep rubbish and anything combustible well away 
from the cylinders, and keep weeds and grass in 
the vicinity cut down (avoid using a chlorate-based 
weedkiller, as it can be a fi re hazard in itself)
➤
Prevent any electrical equipment, vehicles, bonfi res 
or other sources of ignition near the cylinders
➤
Prevent smoking when changing cylinders
➤
Prevent people not involved with the storage or 
installation gaining access to it, particularly children 
(construction sites particularly)
➤
Keep vehicles well away from the installation (fi re 
and impact hazard)
➤
Protect against accidental damage, ensuring that 
pipework is properly routed and supported. In the 
case of underground routing that schematic dia-
grams of the pipe routes are drawn up, to avoid 
putting anything in the ground which may damage 
the pipework
➤
Enable reports of any equipment failure or damage 
to the supplier without delay.
Internal storage
– where fl ammable substances can 
be stored within specially designed separate buildings, 
safe by position, the same control measures as those 
required for outdoor storage, with the additional require-
ment that the building should generally be constructed 
of non-combustible material and the roof of the building 
be of lightweight materials, may be used. The roof would 
open readily to release the effects of an explosion, there-
fore acting as explosion relief.
Ventilation of any building used for a fl ammable 
material store must also be considered; the ventilation 
apertures or bricks must be so positioned to allow air 
fl ow within the building/store and must be positioned 
at both high and low level. The apertures must not be 
sited so that they allow ventilation to other buildings or 
to external areas that could contain ignition sources. The 
number of apertures (based upon the total fl oor area in 
per cent) required will depend on the substance stored, 
e.g. 1% fl ammable liquid and 2.5% fl ammable gases.
Additional measures would be required for stores 
that cannot be positioned in separate buildings, particu-
larly the fi re resistant separation from other parts of the 
building as shown in Fig. 8.19.