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NEW ISO STANDARD OFFERS GUIDANCE TO PREVENT BUILDING FIRES

Sep 29, 2019 News, Standards in Focus

Every year, many persons lose their lives, properties and worldly belongs due to the prevalence of building fires. Those who survive these misfortunes, become homeless, traumatised and even jobless as in the recent incident, which occurred in Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara.
The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), a developer of thousands of standards has developed a standard to address building fires.
According to Clare Naden, News and Communication Specialist at ISO,‘One of the most effective ways of preventing fires in buildings is to reduce the level of oxygen in the air.’
The ISO 20338, Oxygen reduction systems for fire prevention — Design, installation, planning and maintenance is the world’s first International Standard for oxygen reduction systems. As the use of ORS for fire prevention becomes prevalent in Guyana, this crucial standard can be considered for adoption and use.
Indeed, prevention is always better than cure, and there are few better examples than with fires. If fires can only survive when there is oxygen to fuel them, removing it from the air is an effective way to ensure that the environment remains fire-free. Oxygen reduction systems (ORS) do that by creating atmospheres where there is not enough oxygen for a fire to break out, but enough for humans to breathe easily.
However, installing such systems can be a complex business, and requires in-depth knowledge of the space being protected, how it is used and by whom.
Currently, there are various national standards and technical guidelines in place, mainly in Europe, but what has been missing is an internationally agreed set of requirements for quality, safety and performance that everyone can use. This new standard is the solution.
ISO 20338, specifies minimum requirements and defines the specifications for the design, installation and maintenance of fixed oxygen reduction systems. It applies to those systems that use nitrogen-enriched air for fire prevention in buildings and industrial production plants, and can be used for new systems as well as for the extension and modification of existing systems.
Alan Elder, chair of the ISO technical subcommittee that developed the standard, said it will be useful to users of ORS, such as facilities owners, as well as for meeting regulatory requirements.
“Insurance companies, manufacturers, installers and users will all benefit from ISO 20338, particularly from regions outside Europe, because it will enable them to improve the performance and safety of ORS, as well as provide a way for governments to set regulatory requirements, and for users to meet them.”
The ISO 20338 can be purchased from the ISO Store, which can be accessed through the GNBS Website: www.gnbsgy.org.
For further information, contact the GNBS on telephone numbers: 219-0065 or 219-0064

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