FIRE EXTINGUISHERS

Fire extinguishers are still today the most common fire-fighting device thanks to them being easy to use even for who has not  been specifically trained; this is what makes them the most effective insturment on the onset of fires. In order to actualise this effectiveness, a fire extinguisher needs to be easily accessed and regularly checked by a technician. As for Italy, the UNi standard about monitoring supervision, inspection and testing of fire extinguishers is UNI 9994 ("Apparecchiature per estinzione incendi - Estintori di incendio - Manutenzione", literally "fire extinguishing devices, fire extinguishers, maintenance"), recently broadly amended. The new edition (UNI 9994-2003) makes innovations in criteria for tests, supervisions and the replacement of the extinguishing agent inside fire extinguishers. The standard defines the need to regularly perform checks, some of which (monitoring) can be easily performed by the owner, who will then call the maintainer in case of big anomalies; all the other activities (supervision, inspection, test) can only be performed by a maintenance technician operating in compliance with the legislation in force. The supervision is at least once evry six months, while the regularity of inspection varies according to the type of fire extinguisher (once every 36 months for dry chemical fire extinguishers, once every 18 months for water od foam fire extinguishers, every 60 months for CO2 fire extinguishers and every 72 months for halon fire extinguishers). The test is once every 6 years for those fire extinguishers that are not compliant with Directive 97/23/CE and that are not going through regular checks, by law; once every 12 years for fire extinguishers that are compliant with the directive but do not go through regular checks, and in compliance with the laws on pressurized and liquefied gas for carbon dioxide fire extinguishers and auxiliary cartridges.
The actions to do during inspection are written in full details in a 7-sheet annex, a sheet for every type of fire extinguisher. The standard defines the content of a record cart, that is that document which guarantees all maintenance performed in compliance with UNI 9994:2003; it has also been decided that the record card should compulsorily show the ID number and the other fire extinguisher maintenance data, full name, address, company name of the maintainer, the fire extinguisher's gross mass, its actual load, the type of maintenance that has just been performed, the date of last maintenance and the maintainer's sign or ID punch. The extinguishing agent should be completely replaced during the solidity and entirety checks on the fire extinguisher's body and when they are partially discharged. If the writings cannot be clearly read, these must be substitute with new ones, the same if the fire extinguisher need to be painted again; moreover, the fire extinguisher can only be replaced with another with the same fire rating or higher, in order to keep the same safety level.