The opening talk was by Jeanne van Buren, Senior Specialist in Industrial Safety at the Centre for Industrial Safety for the Regional Rotterdam-Rijnmond Fire Services in the Netherlands.

Jeanne presented on the safety issues concerning biofuels, with emphasis on storage terminals.

Highlighting a number of common misunderstandings, Jeanne explained that the risks relating to biofuel storage are often underestimated, and with the different mixtures of biofuels – either of 20 per cent biodiesel or 100 per cent biodiesel –there are many a number of issues to be considered.

The importance of being aware of the suitability of foam and its compatibility with plastic and its reaction to brass, copper, tin, zinc and other metals was something she highlighted. Many biopetrol mixtures can have a higher flashpoint than petrol, which makes them in theory safer. However, problems can arise where these products are stored in dome roof tanks with full contact floating roof tanks. There is no consensus yet on the incident scenarios for these tanks, but there is concensus that fighting a fire in such a tank presents a major challenge. Operators have to be in compliance with the requirements of the DIRECTIVE 94/63/EC (Vapour control from storage and its distribution of petrol). Jeanne outlined the issues and explained that consultation of this directive coupled with undertaking a review of change-over risks was vital to ensuring safe operating procedures.

Jeanne concluded by outlining the need for all services to ensure they kept their neighbouring fire services up to date with any changes to their biofuel and foam systems, so that should outside help be called for the other forces would bring the correct foam.

Foam – risks and opportunities

Mark Samuels of Essex County Fire and Rescue spoke about the continually changing nature of foam fire fighting and the various risks and opportunities it brings. Essex played an important part in the Buncefield incident response, which happened in the neighbouring county of Hertfordshire.

Within Essex there are numerous risks that firefighters have to be prepared for, including incidents at petrochemical storage depots such as Esso’s or Vopak’s, and refinery incidents at Coryton.

An additional angle to the risks is the ever-increasing encroachment of residential areas into areas surrounding these facilities. Essex FRS deal with the normal “bread and butter” petrochemical incidents such as overturned petrol tankers (on average once every two years), scrap yard fires and wooden pallet fires; and in each case the question of whether or not to use foam arises.

Mark explained how Essex has moved to a hook-and-drag system for foam transportation, which has brought increased resilience to the brigade by being able to swap Prime Movers if necessary.

In addition, due to the collaboration to standardise mutual aid equipment and foam concentrates, the fleet of Prime Movers can be mobilised to risks along the Thames Corridor, collect the required components, and redeploy to the incident.

The need to practise with foam fire fighting systems was something else raised by Mark, in the context of inherent environmental concerns. This is an issue that firefighters have to work with, and there is always the dichotomy that using foam in Britain for training purposes can end up in legal prosecution if that foam enters the watercourse.

The alternative – not training in petrochemical techniques with foam – could also end up in health and safety litigation if an injury occurs. Therefore it is difficult, but not insurmountable, for the service to effectively train people on the use foams.

Mark also outlined that a trial using fluorine-free foams was on its way, which could lead the way for the future; in addition, training foams and memorandums of understanding with the agencies concerned were also being identified.

Mark also looked at the amount of foam that should be used for fires, and was joined by several audience members in discussions on how this can be calculated.
For example in many instances an induction rate of 6.5 - 7.3 lpm/m2 (depending on the diameter of the tank) is the quoted figure, but when taking in allowances for thermal updraft caused by the fire – and other factors – this can rise to as high as 10.4 lpm/m2. Finally Mark discussed the “let it burn” policy. In many cases this could be the preferred option and in some the only option – such as where the use of foams could poison a water supply. Sometimes it is a political decision. Mark highlighted the fact the decisions made at Buncefield to extinguish were political, as well as operational.

Steve Smith – the Solberg foam calculator

Steve Smith, Solberg UK Manager, explained how his company had made a decision to test the various qualities and abilities of its foam against E95 ethanol mixture, in order to be able to provide potential customers with hard data pertaining to its performance.
He then showed the “foam calculator” used for working out data in foam applications rates and times. With the calculator Solberg can make sure the amount of foam used will extinguish any fire. It can be adapted with information to make it relevant to all types of fires so that the correct amount of foam that will be needed can be accurately calculated. For fire crews such information would be invaluable as it would allow them to ensure they had enough foam – or more than enough foam – to extinguish a fire, rather than the worst case scenario of running out before a fire has been fully extinguished, resulting in the fire regaining its ferocity and the foam already applied being essentially wasted.
Sharon McAdam – putting a price on firefighter fitness

Sharon McAdams, Senior Occupational Health Sister at Cumbria Fire & Rescue gave a very interesting presentation on firefighter fitness from her own experience in attempting to try and ensure all the fire fighters in her area in Cumbria (north England) where fully assessed for fitness.

The result was a number of programs and checks that ensured every firefighter was fit, well, and able for duty.

Using step tests as an example, McAdams explained that a fire fighter in the 20-29 age group should be able to perform 44 steps in a minute. Some slides however highlighted the different fitness levels of firefighters that been surveyed, and the different heart fitness to body mass index (BMI) levels. The talk led to much discussion among the audience as to the importance of fitness against the difficulty of finding the time and budget to allow firefighters sufficient time to stay fit.

This also led to discussion over the difficulty of giving retained firefighters payment for an additional two hours a week to remain fit, with an allotted time to do fitness, and the near impossibility of finding a further two hours pay for every retained firefighter. The range of complex and emotive comments brought up by this talk underlined just how many areas affect firefighters and the industry as a whole, and how politics and budget can influence an already challenging job.

About JOIFF

JOIFF works to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding of emergency response personnel and to improve standards of safety and of the working environment in which industry/commerce operates with the aim of ensuring that whether employed or contractual, personnel manage risks in industry/commerce safely.

JOIFF fills the information vacuum that exists in the sectors represented by its members, by sharing valuable information through its email network, to ensure that members benefit from the misfortunes of some to educate against the same mistakes being repeated. This network is also used by members who are seeking guidance and advice on particular matters.
JOIFF accredited training includes training courses and programmes specifically developed for the sectors in which JOIFF members operate, the location and facilities where the training will take place and the instructors who will present and assess the training. JOIFF training is competency based and is therefore increasingly site specific, building on core emergency response team competencies. Key to all JOIFF accredited training and personal development of emergency responders is an accredited system of assessment and verification to ensure competence which should be demonstrated on an on-going basis. All successful participants in JOIFF accredited training courses/programmes receive JOIFF accredited certificates of competence.

JOIFF is the voice of emergency services personnel aiming to serve their best interests through the generation of guidelines, codes of practice and standard operating procedures. This is “the JOIFF standard”, which has become recognised as best industry practice and is continually being built on. JOIFF provides input to regulatory authorities and other policy-making organisations at local, national and international level on the nature and control of safety and other relevant issues in the sectors in which its members operate.

JOIFF Bursary

JOIFF invites applications for their newly launched Bursary of up to £1,500. The Bursary is intended to assist persons who wish to conduct research into topics related to emergency services management and it will be awarded to the person whose proposal to the JOIFF selection committee is deemed to provide the most value to the fire/emergency response community. On conclusion of the work, the successful applicant will be required to submit a report on their findings to the JOIFF Membership.

Applications are invited from all interested parties including representatives of JOIFF Members. The bursary application form can be downloaded from the JOIFF website at www.joiff.com
Membership of JOIFF is open to any organisation which is a high hazard industry and/or has nominated personnel as emergency responders/hazard management team members who provide cover to industrial/commercial organisations. JOIFF welcomes as Corporate Members, organisations which do not fully comply with these requirements but who wish to support the aims of JOIFF. JOIFF welcomes enquires for Membership. Website: joiff@iol.ie

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