Emergency fire plan for asbestos

ASBESTOS FIRE PLAN - WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT FOR THE EMERGENCY SERVICES?

 Asbestos is at its worse when the material it is mixed with is broken (cement, insulation, wall coverings etc), allowing the fibres to be released.

 Building fires will get sufficiently hot to liberate the fibres, even though they are obviously not flammable.

  mergencies in buildings often involve breaking into spaces through materials to make rescues or get access to fire fight. If we know where the asbestos is we can avoid it.

 Smoke and ash with travel far from the site and we need to plan to warn and prepare the local community.

 Protective clothing (particularly fire gear) is fabric and needs washing, if we know asbestos is present we can take special precautions to protect the laundry workers.

 IT’S LAW

Although not the most important reason you should be aware that the Approved Code of Practice Management of Exposure to Asbestos in
Workplace Buildings and Structures Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, 1989 requires:

24 - The asbestos register should be made available to the emergency services, in particular the States of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service, in order that they are made aware of any ACMs on the premises, so that they can take the appropriate precautions in the event of an emergency.

60 - The procedures should also contain sufficient information that can be made available to the emergency services, for example States of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service, when they attend an incident, so that they can properly protect themselves against the risks from asbestos.

For a draft copy of an emergency plan click here