NFPA Building Codes

OSHA Fire Safety Information

OSHA Fire Safety Advisor
1.0a Software

Kidde Fire Systems

What Is the Fire Risk?

An off-road vehicle can be a huge ore hauler, a forestry machine, a construction bulldozer or a handicap transportation bus. In all of these applications, a fire would not only threaten the lives of the operator and passengers but also could destroy an expensive, hard-to-replace vehicle. Fires can also cause the cost of insuring these vehicles to soar.

What are the Fire Hazards?

Off-road vehicles typically work long hours under demanding conditions. The major cause of fire is a break in a fuel or hydraulic line in the engine or manifold compartment that touches off spilled fuel or hydraulic fluid, resulting in a rapidly expanding fire. Electrical shorts, particularly in larger mining vehicles such as shovels and drag-lines, can also touch off fires. Often these fires start in parts of the vehicle where the operator can't see smoke and flames until it's too late.

What are the Recommended Methods of Fire Protection?

Dry Chemical / Foam Suppression
Vehicle fires require a system capable of detecting a fire anywhere in the protected area and reacting rapidly with a discharge of a dry chemical or foam agent, or a combination.

• Kidde Dry Chemical/Foam Suppression  Kidde Dry Chemical/Foam Suppression Systems combine sophisticated fire detection with rugged 24-hour, fire-killing power, pre-engineered to fit each application in a choice of fully automatic, remote manual or local manual actuation.

Clean Agent Fire Suppression
If the vehicle is large enough to have its own on-board control room, clean fire protection is needed to protect the operator and the vehicle without leaving an after-fire cleanup problem.

What are the Fire Protection Codes & Standards for Off-Road Vehicles?

Depending upon the specific type of vehicle to be protected, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) provides standards for proper fire protection.

Mining, forestry, construction, waste management and other industry groups and leading insurance companies, ( Industrial Risk Insurers, Factory Mutual  ), also publish guidelines for vehicle fire protection.