John Frame is an independent fire, explosion and emergency response consultant. His long career has involved assignments in every continent, every climate and culture – and for the vast majority of the world’s oil and gas companies. He found that working with the Russian fire authorities was to be one of his most challenging projects. Here he gives a very personal view of the conditions and difficulties faced by Russian responders who operate outside of the main cities. His observations were over a five-year period in the north, centre and south of the country, including two years when he was the de-facto fire protection consultant for an international consortium operating a gas stabilisation facility in eastern Siberia.

Understanding the difference between inherent safety and engineered/procedural categories in combustible dust is fundamental, explains Paul Amyotte.

During his time responding to major incidents all over the world, marine firefighting world expert Gert-Jan Langerak has gained some strong views on how shipboard response safety standards could be improved, writes Ann-Marie Knegt.

Many firefighters think of their fire kit as little more than a piece of industrial clothing. Yes, it has some reflective tape on it and it may even have a radio loop or similar, as well as the word “fire” on the back, but surely it’s little more than a fancy “donkey” jacket? Not so! Kevan Whitehead goes back to basics and debunks a few myths whilst he’s at it.

When responding to an LNG spill, aside from life safety issues there are typically two major goals. These are vapour control and fire control – and the key word here is “control”, because with large LNG spills and pool fires, vapour suppression and extinguishment are unlikely to be an option. World expert Kirk Richardson answers some questions on tackling LNG incidents with high-ex foam.

Foam experts Tom Cortina, Jan Knappert, Matt Boyle, Steve Smith and Chang JHo express their views on the future of AFFF foam.

The International Water Mist Conference 2009 enjoyed the highest attendance so far recorded by the IWMA, and there are clear signs of a growing interest in inland applications, reports Jose Sanchez de Muniain.

Although the shipping industry has the experience and know-how to handle potential incidents, new events continue to highlight weaknesses or issues that were not previously addressed. What is vital is that each incident be contained as far as possible to prevent a crisis developing. Kingfell’s Paul Bryant, a fire, risk and crisis management specialist, introduces its new iCap methodology for crisis planning.

A record 55,800 visitors attended the A+A show in Dusseldorf recently, not bad in these trying times, especially when considering the organisers’ remarks that a growing attendance was from non-European countries. One in four visitors came from outside Germany, visiting some 1,500 exhibitors from 62 countries.

Walk through the centre of an industrial plant or any city and the chorus of sirens that greets you can be as diverse as the calls of a bird-filled rainforest. The sounders and sirens market is a widereaching one, and in 2010 it looks set to broaden further with the help of new technologies and initiatives, writes Jon Severs.

Yes, we do need to raise the competency and knowledge of fire resistant glazing in the fire industry, says Peter Barker of Chiltern International.

Annually, the Honeywell Users’ Group (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) comes together to find out the latest developments in all aspects of process, whether in safety, engineering, security, or simply output optimisation. This year’s theme in Portugal was “return on imagination”, and IFJ went along to the conference and mini-exhibition to find out what the future may bring in terms of industrial safety.