Helicopter guidelines for land seismic & helirig operations - OGP

Helicopter guidelines for land seismic & helirig operations
Annex C
Fire safety
C.1 General
C.1.1
C.1.2
C.1.3
Suitable firefighting equipment should be provided at fuel storage, refueling, staging
and base camp landing areas. It may not be practical to provide such equipment at
the line helipads, but where remote refueling and fuel handling is performed essential
firefighting equipment should be available.
A designated firefighting team should be established for these areas. This team should
be given suitable fire fighting training with regular refresher training and emergency
exercises. At least one trained firefighter should be present and ready for action during
refueling operations, starting of helicopter engines and landing / take off.
Where fuel storage and refueling areas are adjacent, there is no need for duplicate
equipment, provided the equipment is suitably located and mobile.
C.2 Firefighter equipment
C.2.1
Firefighters should have the following equipment:
1. Firefighter helmet, suit and boots, suitable for quick donning.
2. Emergency equipment as listed under 12.3.
C.3 Fire extinguishing equipment
C.3.1
C.3.2
C.3.3
C.3.3
C.3.3
Examples of the required equipment can be found in CAP 437 for helidecks; ICAO
Annex 14 for airports, airstrips, heliports and helidecks; and The National Fire
Protection Association ‘NFPA41 Standard for Heliports’.
Some of the above may not be practical for temporary installations, such as staging
areas or even seismic base camps.
The preferred fire extinguishing system for fuel storage, refueling and landing/take
off areas is water based foam (AFFF). Hoses should be of suitable length to cover the
area. Pumps should preferably be spark proof of a similar rating to fuel pumps. Pumps
should have adequate delivery capacity (at least 5.5 l/m 2 /min) and throw (at least
10m). Nozzles should allow dual use, ie (foam) jet and fire wall. Water supply should
be adequate to sustain continuous delivery for at least 10 minutes.
A very practical system consists of a carted water pump and foam mixing assembly.
On the intake side this should be connected to a pressurized water system or have
a non collapsing intake hose which can be inserted into a water supply (tank, pond,
river). On the outlet side 15 - 50 m delivery hose can be used, depending on pump
output pressure.
In addition to the above, at least two 12kg dry powder or CO 2
(ABC) portable fire
extinguishers should be available for use on small, incipient fires.
Where no adequate water supply is available and for more temporary locations, the
use of portable fire extinguishers is acceptable.
1. Portable fire extinguishers can only fight incipient, small fires and a ‘burn down
policy’ should be adopted for larger fires.
2. For protection of the Helicopter (refueling, landing/take off) an additional
capacity of portable dry powder, CO 2
and/or foam extinguisher(s) should be
provided of at least:
a. 50kg dry powder, or
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