S2 E7 Warehouse Safety By Design - Life Safety

Greetings everyone and welcome to another edition of Mighty Line Minute! Today we're going to be discussing siting a new warehouse and the essential risk management decision making necessary to achieve a safe and sustainable design.

Our objective in this series is to help assure safety for employees and the community through compliance with recognized codes and standards. Today we'll be covering the NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, and its application as a preeminent life safety compliance tool. This code is considered a national consensus standard, as it is developed by industry experts, government agencies, and the public. The NFPA Life Safety Code is also widely referenced by many other codes and standards. 

The term "life safety" refers to the protection of people from fire, smoke, and other hazards or emergencies within buildings and environments by application of measures, practices, codes, and standards. The Life Safety Code incorporates 43 chapters. They include overarching provisions such as means of egress, while covering a wide range of specific occupancy types.

They range from high rise to assembly, residential, educational, dormitory, industrial, storage, and many others. It's crucial that anyone involved in warehouse siting and design become knowledgeable in the provisions of the Life Safety Code. There are also many educational programs available to learn its provisions.

Today, I'd like to share several of my own real-world considerations that I have witnessed from experience. In an early phase of my safety career, I investigated a $50 million warehouse fire loss. The building's 4-hour firewall, fire doors, smoke and heat vents, water-sprayed steel columns, along with its ceiling and in-rack sprinkler systems, met "highly protected risk" insurance standards of the day.

The design also conformed to applicable fire and building codes. However, at the time, fire protection and building standards were outdated. Such was the case for lift truck classification, site-cast firewalls, smoke and heat venting, containment and drainage, and especially, the protection of flammable liquids in plastic containers.

Significant levels of large and small-scale fire research at national and international laboratories followed the loss. This led to significant updates in today's fire and building codes.

Some of the best warehouse life safety learnings that I have personally observed are as follows:

1. In evaluating means of egress, it's essential to study occupancy type, commodities involved, storage arrangements, ceiling heights, protection systems, and the availability of containment and drainage systems for hazardous materials. Each of these elements individually can impact overall fire risk, exposure, travel distances, and evacuation times. 

2. Fire detection and alarm notification systems are typically legally required in most warehouses during emergencies. OSHA also mandates occupant notification for safe egress. In these cases NFPA 72 must be consulted. 

3. For exit travel, new buildings present the opportunity to design in proper building and occupancy egress. For example, optimizing rack layouts, line-of-sight visibility toward exits, and the location of emergency lighting ensures a safe means of egress toward building exits. 

4. In the new warehouse, emergency lighting with standby or online inverters can extend illumination beyond the required 90 minutes. This also simplifies testing and maintenance compared to what's known as the battery pack or "bugeye" units. 

5. Panic hardware must be installed on warehouse exit doors that store hazardous materials, and the hardware is also required in assembly occupancies serving 100 or more people, and in many electrical rooms. They're always a good idea in any storage occupancy.

6. Various systems ensure safe egress, including emergency lighting, exit signage, alarms, and floor markings that guide pedestrians, while delineating storage areas and lift truck travel paths. 

7. Photoluminescent floor tapes can enhance illumination and travel paths during power outages. Check occupancy and jurisdiction requirements as brightness levels may be specified, such as within stairwells. 

8. Employee training in the operation of powered industrial trucks, handling of hazardous materials, emergency planning, evacuation protocols, and accounting for fellow workers is always essential.

9. Evacuation drills should be conducted on at least an annual basis, and better, twice annually where possible. Tabletop planning and team discussion can also be considered as an element of that planning. 

10. Line management throughout the entire management system must always "walk-the-walk" and "talk-the-talk." And that means, for emergency planning, life safety, and all areas of safety and health. Leadership must always set a safe example for employees to be appreciated and for results in safety to be effective. 

Thanks everyone for joining us today on Mighty Line Minute. We're glad you were able to spend time with us to learn more about siting a new warehouse. And in particular, those aspects that deal with life safety. In the meantime, take a look at MightyLineTape.com to learn more about 5S, delineation for both employees, materials, and forklift travel, as well as new safety signs for use in your warehouse or industrial occupancy. 

Take care, have a safe day. We'll see you soon.