HSSE Management Tours - BG Group

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Key Integrity Barriers
Topic 18 – Fire Protection
• Fire protection systems are provided to mitigate
the effects of fires, should they occur. These include
passive and active systems.
• Passive fire protection systems include fire rated
divisions (fire walls), and passive fire protection
coatings (typically used on structures, supports,
etc.) and jackets or enclosures (typically used on
critical valves or vessels). Although the passive
systems are inherently more reliable than active
systems, they still require periodic inspection to
ensure that they are not degraded or damaged in
any way that might cause them to fail prematurely
during a fire event.
HSSE Management Tours:
Asset Integrity Guide
• Active systems include firewater deluge systems,
sprinkler systems, gaseous flooding systems,
hydrants, monitors and mobile and portable
fire extinguishers. These are provided in various
locations on the facility, dependent upon the
specific nature of the fire hazard. These systems
and their components are subject to periodic
inspection, testing and maintenance to ensure
their functionality in accordance with established
performance standards.
• If fire protection systems are unavailable or
(wholly or partially) impaired for any period of
time this may mean that the consequences of
a fire in the event of a major accident could be
much worse. Therefore in the event of
unavailability or impairment a risk assessment
should be carried out.
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