Materials and Special Hazards
40 articles in this category
The Hidden Risk of Rooftop Combustibles: Controlling Fire Spread Above the Ceiling
Rooftop PV Fire When most people think about fire protection in commercial buildings, they picture alarms, sprinklers, and firewalls—everything happening inside the building. But there's a growing...
Preventing Liquid Damage in High-Rise Buildings: Updated Technical Guidance Based on FM Data Sheets
St Regis Chicago, Third Tallest Tower in Chicago In a high-rise building, it’s not the dramatic disasters you should fear most — it’s the tiny, sneaky ones. A loose fitting, a cracked pipe, or an...
Transitioning from Fluorinated Foam to Fluorine Free Firefighting Foams
This is a follow-up to our December 2022 article on the transition to fluorine free firefighting foams, Transitioning from Fluorinated Foam to Fluorine Free Firefighting Foams Follow-Up:...
Wildfires
Wildfire Trends and Impact According to the National Interagency Fire Center (1), the number of wildfires and acres burned in the United States has increased significantly in recent years....
Ammonium Nitrate
On August 4, 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut in Lebanon accidentally exploded, killing more than 200 people, injuring over 6,000 and causing miles worth of...
Tire Manufacturing
Tire manufacturing is a complex process, but can be broken down into three main processes: tire preparation, tire production and tire building. Preparation includes fabric cord manufacturing, bead...
Protection of Aircraft Hangars
Aircraft maintenance crews primarily use hangars for either assembly or servicing tasks. In this article, we will just focus on maintenance (or servicing) hangars. The hazards of maintenance...
Managing Property Risks at Casinos
Nearly everyone has some experience in a casino. Whether you are a high roller playing your favorite table game, playing the penny slots, or just driving down Las Vegas Boulevard as a tourist,...
Fire Protection for the Textile Industry
The textile industry can generally be divided into two manufacturing process; raw fiber to yarn production and yarn to finished garments production. Both types of textile manufacturing pose similar...
Fire Protection at Printing Plants
Printing Operations can be divided into four production processes: Letterpress Printing, Silk Screen Printing, Gravure Printing and Lithographic Printing. All types of printing production pose...
Protection and Approvals for Process Exhaust Ductwork
The following is an update to our May 2019 technical web article “Protection and Approvals for Combustible Plastic Ductwork.” The removal of dust, smoke, and fumes is a critical part of many...
Combustible Dust Hazard Analysis (DHA)
What Is A Dust Hazard Analysis? As defined in NFPA 652, Standard on the Fundamentals of Combustible Dust (2019 edition), a Dust Hazard Analysis (DHA) is a systematic review to both identify and...