(1)All processes involving serious explosion and flash fire hazards shall be located in segregated buildings where the equipment shall be so arranged that only a minimum number of employees are exposed to such hazards at any one time.(2)All industrial processes involving serious fire hazards shall be located in buildings or work places separated from one another by walls of fire-resistant construction.(3)Equipment and plant involving serious fire or flash fire hazards shall, wherever possible, be so constructed and installed that in case of fire, they can he easily isolated.(4)Ventilation ducts pneumatic conveyors and similar equipments involving a serious fire risk shall be provided with flame arresting or automatic fire extinguishing appliances.(5)In all work places having serious fire or flash hazards passages between Machines, installations or piles or material should be at least 90 cm. wide.(6)Buildings and plants shall be so laid out and roads, passage ways, etc., so maintained as to permit unobstructed access for fire fighting.(7)Protection from lightning shall be provided for-(i)buildings in which explosive or highly flammable substances are manufactured, used, handled or stored;(ii)storage tanks containing oils, paints or other flammable liquids;(iii)grain elevators; and(iv)buildings, tall chimneys or stacks where flammable gases, fumes, dust or lint are likely to be present.(8)All explosives shall be handled, transported, stored and used in accordance with the provisions in the India Explosives Act, 1884.(9)Wherever there is danger of fire or explosion from accumulation of flammable or explosive substance in air-(a)all electrical apparatus shall either be excluded from the area of risk or they shall be of such construction and so installed and maintained as to prevent the danger of their being a source of ignition;(b)effective measures shall be adopted for prevention of accumulation of static charges to a dangerous extent;(c)workers shall wear shoes without iron or steel nails or any other exposed ferrous materials which is likely to cause sparks by friction;(d)smoking, lighting or carrying of matches, lighters or smoking materials shall be prohibited;(e)transmission belts with iron fasteners shall not be used; and(f)all other precautions, as are reasonably practicable, shall be taken to prevent initiation of ignition from all other possible sources such as open flames, frictional sparks, overheated of machinery or plant, chemical or physical chemical and radiant heat.(10)Where materials are likely to induce spontaneous ignition, care shall be taken to avoid formation of air pockets and to ensure adequate ventilation.(11)Cylinders containing compressed gas may only be stored in open, if they are protected against excessive variation of temperature, direct rays of sun or continuous dampness. Such cylinders shall never be stored near highly flammable substances, furnaces or hot processes. The room where such cylinders are stored shall have adequate ventilation.(12)(a)The quantity of flammable liquids in any workroom shall be the minimum required for the process or processes carried on in such room. Flammable liquids shall be stored in suitable containers with close fitting covers :Provided that not more than twenty litres of flammable liquids having a flash point of 21° C or less shall be kept or stored in any work-room.(b)Flammable liquids shall be stored in closed containers and in limited quantities in well-ventilated rooms of fire resisting construction which are isolated from the remaining portion of the building by fire walls and self-closing fire doors.(c)Large quantities of such liquids shall be stored in isolated adequately ventilated building of fire resisting construction or in storage tanks, preferably undergrounds and at a distance from any building as required in the Petroleum Rules, 1976.(d)Effective steps shall be taken to prevent leakage of such liquids into basements, sumps or drains and to confine any escaping liquid within safe limits.(13)(a)Effective steps shall be taken for removal or prevention of the accumulation in the air of flammable dust, gas, fume or vapour to an extent which is likely to be dangerous.(b)No waste material of a flammable nature shall be permitted to accumulate on the floors and shall be removed at least once in a day or shift, and more often, when possible. Such materials shall be placed in suitable metal containers with covers wherever possible.(14)(a)In this sub-rule-(i)"horizontal exit" means arrangement which allows alternative egress from a floor area to another floor at or near the same level in an adjoining building or an adjoining part of the same building with adequate separation; and(ii)"travel distance" means the distance an occupant has to travel to reach an exit.(b)An exit may be a doorway, corridor, passage way to an internal or external stairway or to a verandah. An exit may also include a horizontal exit leading to an adjoining building at the same level.(c)Lifts, escalators and revolving doors shall not be considered as exit for the purpose of this sub-rule.(d)In every room of a factory exit sufficient to permit safe escape of the occupants in case of fire or other emergency, shall be provided which shall be free of any obstruction.(e)The exits shall be clearly visible and suitably illuminated with suitable arrangement, whatever artificial lighting is to be adopted for this purpose, to maintain the required illumination in case of failure of the normal source of electric supply.(f)The exit shall be marked in a language understood by the majority of the workers.(g)Fire resisting doors or roller shutters shall be provided at appropriate places along the escape routes to prevent spread of fire and smoke, particularly at the entrance of lifts or stairs, where funnel or flue effect may be created including an upward spread of fire.(h)All exits shall provide continuous means of egress to the exterior of a building or to an exterior open pace leading to a street.(i)Exits shall be so located that the travel distance on the floor shall not exceed 30 metres.(j)In case of those factories where high hazard materials are stored or used, the travel distance to the exit shall not exceed 22.5 meters and there shall be at least two ways of escape from every room, however small, except toilet rooms, so located that the points of access thereto are cut off or suitably shielded from areas of high hazard.(k)Wherever more than one exit is required for any room, space or floor, exits shall be placed as remote from each other as possible and shall be arranged to provide direct access in separate directions from any point in the area served.(l)The unit of exit width used to measure capacity of any exit shall be 50 centimetres. A clear width of 25 centimetres shall be counted as an additional half unit. Clear width of less than 25 centimetres shall not be counted for exit width.(m)Occupants per unit width shall be 50 for stairs and 75 for doors,(n)For determining the exit required, the occupant load shall be reckoned on the basis of actual number of occupants within any floor area or 10 square metres per person whichever is more.(o)There shall not be less than two exits serving every floor area above and below the ground floor, and at least one of them shall be an internal enclosed stairway.(p)Every building or structure used for storage only, and every section thereof considered separately, shall have access to at least one exit so arranged and located is to provide a suitable means of escape for any person employed therein, and in any such room wherein more than 10 persons may be normally present, at least two separate means of exits shall be available, as remote from each other as practicable.(q)Every storage area shall have access to at least one means of exit which can be readily opened.(r)Every exit doorway shall open into an enclosed stairway, a horizontal exit in a corridor or passageway providing continuous and protected means of egress.(s)No exit doorway shall be less than 100 centimetres in width. Doorway shall not be lass than 200 centimetres in height.(t)Exit doorways shall open outwards, that is, away from the room but shall not obstruct the travel along any exit. No door, when opened, shall reduce the required width of stairway or landing to less than 90 centimetres. Overhead or sliding doors shall not be installed for this purpose.(u)An exit door shall not open immediately upon a flight of stairs. A landing equal to at least the width of the doorway shall be provided in the, stairway at each doorway. The level of landing shall be the same as that of the floor which it serves.(v)The exit doorways shall be openable from the side which, they serve without the use of a key.(w)Exit corridors shall be of a width not less than the aggregate required width of exit doorway leading from there in the direction of travel to the exterior.(x)Where stairways discharge through corridors and passageways, the height of the corridors and passageways shall not be less than 2.4 metres.(y)Internal stairs shall be constructed of non-combustible materials throughout.(z)Internal stairs shall be constructed as a self-contained unit width at least one side adjacent to an external wall and shall be completely enclosed.(aa)A staircase shall not be arranged round a lift shaft unless the latter is totally enclosed by a material having a fire resistance rating not lower than that of the type of construction of the former.(bb)Hollow combustible construction shall not be permitted.(cc)The minimum width of an internal staircase shall be 100 centimetres,(dd)The minimum width of treads without nosing shall be 25 centimetres for an internal staircase. The treads shall be constructed and maintained in a manner to prevent slipping.(ee)The maximum height of a riser shall be 19 centimetres and the number of risers shall be limited to 12 per flight.(ff)Hand rails shall be provided with a minimum height of 100 centimetres and shall be firmly supported.(gg)The use of spiral staircase shall be limited to low occupant load and to a building of height of 9 metres unless they are connected to platforms such as balconies and terraces to allow escapees to pause. A spiral staircase shall not be less than 300 centimetres in diameter and have adequate head room.(hh)The width of a horizontal exit shall be same as per the exit doorways.(ii)The horizontal exit shall be equipped with at least one fire door of self-closing type.(jj)The floor area on the opposite or refuge side of a horizontal exit shall be sufficient to accommodate occupants of the floor areas served; allowing not less than 0.3 square metre per person. The refuge area shall be provided with exits adequate to meet the requirements of this clause. At least one of the exits shall lead directly to the exterior or street.(kk)Where there is difference in level between connected areas for horizontal exit, ramps not more than 1 in 8 slopes shall be provided. For this purpose steps shall not be used.(ll)Doors in horizontal exits shall be openable at all times.(mm)Ramps with a slope of not more than 1 in 10 may be substituted for the requirements of staircase. For all slopes exceeding 1 in 10 and wherever the use is such as to involve danger of slipping, the map shall be surfaced with non-slipping material.(nn)In any building not provided with automatic fire alarm, a manual fire alarm system shall be provided if the total capacity of the buildings is over five hundred persons or if more than twenty-five persons are employed above or below the ground floor, except that no manual fire alarm shall be required in one storey buildings where the entire area is undivided and all parts thereof are clearly visible to all occupants.(15)(a)In every factory, there shall be provided and maintained adequate and suitable fire fighting equipment for fighting fires in the early stages, those being referred to as first-aid fire fighting equipment in this sub-rule,(b)The types of first-aid fire fighting equipment to be provided shall be determined by considering the different types of fire risks which are classified as follows(i)"Class A Fire" -fire due to combustible materials such as wood, textiles, paper, rubbish and the like;(1)"Light hazard" - occupancies like offices, assembly halls, canteens, rest-rooms ambulance rooms and the like;(2)"Ordinary hazard" - occupancies like saw mills, carpentry shop, small timber yards, book binding shops, engineering workshop and the like;(3)"Extra hazard" - occupancies like large timber yards, godowns, storing fibrous materials, flour mills, cotton mills, jute mills, large wood working factories and the like.(ii)"Class B fire"-inflammable liquids like oil, petroleum products, solvents, grease, paint, etc.(iii)"Class C fire"-fire arising out of gaseous substances.(iv)"Class D fire"-fire from relative chemicals, active metals and the like.(v)"Class E fire"-fire involving electrical equipment and delicate machinery and the like.(c)The number and types of first-aid fire fighting equipment to be provided shall be as per the following scales-(i)Class A fire-(1)Light hazard-One 9 litres water bucket for every 100 square metres of floor area or part thereof and one 9 litres water type (Soda-acid or gas pressure or bucket pump) extinguisher shall be provided for each 6 buckets or part thereof with a minimum of an extinguisher and two buckets per compartment of building. These equipments shall be so distributed over the entire floor areas that a person shall have to travel not more than 25 metres from any point to reach the nearest equipment.(2)Ordinary hazard-One 9 litres water bucket for every 100 square metres of floor area or part thereof and one 9 litre water types (Soda acid, gas pressure or bucket pump) extinguisher shall be provided for each six buckets or part thereof, with a minimum of 2 extinguishers and 4 buckets per compartment of the building. These equipments shall be so distributed over the entire floor area that a person shall have to travel not more than 15 metres from any point to reach the nearest equipment.(3)Extra hazard-The scale of equipment would be what is prescribed for ordinary hazard and in addition, such extra equipments as, in the opinion of the inspector, are necessary, having regard to the special nature of occupancy:Provided that in special cases, the Inspector may, after taking into consideration the circumstances, authorise that the buckets prescribed in this clause may be dispensed with, where the number of the extinguishers provided is double of that what is prescribed.(ii)Class B Fire-There shall be at least one fire extinguisher either foam type or carbon dioxide or dry power type per 60 square metres of floor area and shall be so distributed that no person is required to travel more than 15 metres from any point to reach the nearest equipment. In addition to the requirements of extinguishers specified here, requirements as laid down in Clause (1) shall also be provided.(iii)Class C Fire-Carbon dioxide or dry chemical power extinguishers shall be provided near each plant or group of plants.(iv)Class D Fire-Special dry power (Chloride based) type of extinguishers, or sand buckets, shall be provided on a scale as laid down for Class B fire. The Inspector may require a higher scale of portable equipment to be provided depending upon the risk involved.(v)Class E Fire-Carbon dioxide or dry power type extinguishers shall be provided near each plant or group of plants depending upon the risk involved.(d)The first-aid fire fighting equipments shall conform to the relevant Indian standards.(e)As far as possible the first-aid fire fighting equipment shall be similar in shape and appearance and shall have the same method of operation.(f)All first-aid fire fighting equipments shall be placed in conspicuous positions and shall be readily and easily accessible for immediate use. Generally, these equipments shall be placed as near as possible to the exits or stair landings or normal routes of escape.(g)All water buckets and bucket pump type extinguishers shall be filled with clean water. All sand buckets shall be filled with clean dry and fine sand.(h)All other extinguishers shall be charged appropriately in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer.(i)Each first-aid fire fighting equipment shall be allotted a serial number by which the records shall be referred to. The following details shall be painted with white paint on the body of each equipment-
