63. [ Fire.] [Substituted by No.4, dated 8.1.1991[25-6-1992]]- (1) Processes, equipment, plant etc. involving serious explosion and serious fire hazards.- (a) All processes involving serious explosion and flash fire hazard shall be located in segregated building where the equipment shall be so arranged that only a minimum number of employees are exposed to such hazards at any one time.
(b)All industrial processes involving serious fire hazard should be located in building or work places separated from one another by walls of fire-resistant construction.(c)Equipment and plant involving serious fire or flash fire hazard shall, wherever possible, be so constructed and installed that in case of fire, they can be easily isolated.(d)Ventilation ducts, pneumatic conveners and similar equipment involving serious fire risk shall be provided with flame arresting or automatic fire extinguishing appliances.(e)In all work places having serious fire or flash fire hazards. passages, between machine. installation or piles of material should be at least 90 cm. wide.(2)Access for firefighting. Buildings and Plants shall be so laid out and roads, passageways etc. so maintained as to permit unobstructed access for fire fighting.(3)Protection against lighting. Protection from lighting shall be provided for(i)building in which explosive or highly flammable substances are manufactured, used, handled or stored;(ii)Storage tanks containing oils, paints, or other flammable liquids;(iii)Gram elevators; and(iv)Building. tall chimneys or stacks where flammable gases, fumes, dust or lint are likely to be present.(4)Explosives. All explosives shall be handled, transported, stored and used in accordance with the provisions in the Indian Explosives Act, 1984.(5)Precautions against ignition. Wherever there is danger of fire or explosion from accumulation of flammable or explosive substances 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 nail or any other exposed ferrous material which is likely to cause sparks by friction;(d)Smoking, lighting or carrying of matches, lighters or smoking material 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 surfaces of machinery or plant, chemical or physical chemical reaction and radiant heat.(6)Spontaneous ignition. Where materials are likely to induce spontaneous ignition, care shall be taken to avoid formation of air pocket and to ensure adequate ventilation.(7)Cylinders containing compressed gas. 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.(8)Storage of flammable liquids. (a) The quantity of flammable liquids in any work room 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 20 liters 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 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 underground 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.(9)Accumulation of flammable dust, gas, fume or vapour in air or flammable waste material on the floors. (a) Effective steps shall be taken for removal or prevention of the accumulation in the air of flammable dusts, gas, fume or vapour to an extent which is likely to be dangerous.(b)No waste material of 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.(10)Fire exits (a) In this rule, (i)"horizontal exit" means an arrangement which allows alter-native 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, passageway 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 exits for the purpose of this sub-rule.(d)In every room of a factory sufficient exits 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 exits 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 inducing 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 space leading to a street.(i)Exits shall be so located that the travel distance on the floor shall not exceed 30 meters.(j)In case of those factories where highly hazardous 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 out of or suitably shielded from areas of high hazard.(k)Wherever fore 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 cm. A clear width of 25 cm, shall be counted as an additional half unit. Clear width of less than 25 cm. 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 exits 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)For every building or structure used for storage only, and every section thereof considered separately, shall have access to at least one escape so arranged and located as to provide a suitable means of escape for any person employed therein and in any such room wherein more than 10 persons 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 on a corridor or passageway providing continuous and protected means of egress.(s)No exit doorway shall be less than 100 cm. in width, doorway shall be not less than 200 cm. 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 cm. over head 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 open able from the side which they serve without the use of a key.(w)Exit corridors and passageways shall be of a width not less than the aggregate required with of exit doorways leading from therein 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 240(y)Internal stairs shall be constructed of non-combustible material throughout.(z)Internal stairs shall be constructed as a self contained unit with 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 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 cm.(dd)The minimum width of treads without nosing shall be 25 cm. for 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 cm. and the number or risers shall be limited to 12 per flight.(ff)Hand rails shall be provided with a minimum height of 100 cm. 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 escapes to pause. A spiral staircase shall be not less than 300 cm. in diameter and have adequate head room.(hh)The width of a horizontal exit shall be same as for 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 meter per person. The refuge area shall be provided with exit adequate to meet the requirements of this sub-rule. 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 I in 8 slopes shall be provided. For this purpose steps shall not be used.(ll)Doors in horizontal exits shall be open able at all times.(mm)Ramps with a slope of not more than 1 in 10 may be substituted for the requirement of staircase. For all slopes exceeding 1 in 10 and wherever the use in such as to involve danger of slipping, the ramp 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 building is over 500 persons, or if more than 25 persons are employed above or below the ground floor, except that no manual fire alarm shall be required in one story buildings where the entire area is undivided and all parts thereof are clearly visible to all occupants.(11)First-aid fire fighting arrangements. (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 rule.(b)The types of first-aid fire fighting equipments 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, textile, paper, rubbish and the like.
