Statutory requirments on Health Safety Environment

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National Safety Council, India
Statutory requirements as per Factories Act
and Rules, NBC 2016,
in respect of Fire Protection
Date: 28.11.2023
Goutam Muhuri – NSC Faculty

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Statutory and Legal Requirements for
Fire prevention and protection
Discussion points
1.Statutory and legal requirements as per Factories Act & Rules in
respect of Fire Protection,
2.Statutory and legal Requirements as per NBC (National Building
Code of India), 2016 in respect of Fire Protection,
3.Fire Notices
4.Emergency Plan
5.Emergency drills
6.Escape plan

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1. Statutory and Legal Requirements for Fire prevention
and Protection in Industrial establishment
Section :37:
(1) The Section 37 of the Factories Act, 1948 covers detailed measures to
prevent explosion, where manufacturing process produces dust, fume, gas
or vapour, explosive in nature when it comes in contact of ignition.
Precautions during hot work in tanks/ vessels, which normally contains
inflammable liquid/ gases are also covered.
The State Factories Rules, framed under the Factories Act, covers in
details, all the steps to be taken to prevent fire hazard.

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1. Statutory and Legal Requirements for Fire prevention
and Protection- in Industrial establishment
38. Precautions in case of fire :
(1) In every factory, all practicable measures shall he taken to prevent
outbreak of fire and its spread, both internally and externally, and to
provide and maintain— (a) safe means of escape for all the persons in the
event of a fire, and (b) the necessary equipment and facilities for
extinguishing the fire.
(2) Effective measures shall be taken to ensure that in every factory all the
workers are familiar with the means of escape in case of fire and have been
adequately trained in the routine to be followed in such cases.

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(3) The State Government may make rules, in respect of any factory or
class or description of factories, requiring the measures to be adopted to
give effect to the provisions of sub-sections (1) and (2).
38. Precautions in case of fire (contd..):

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The occupier of the factory involves in hazardous processes shall
disclose the dangers involved during the entire work activities and
measures to overcome such hazards.
41B. Compulsory disclosure of information by occupier :
41-(B4) : On-site Emergency Plan
The occupier of the factory involved in hazardous process shall develop
On-site emergency plan and detailed control measures with approval of
CIF and make aware the workers and adjoining neighbors about the
risks and control measures in place.

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41H. Right of workers to know about eminent dangers:
Workers can bring to the notice of occupier, manager about eminent
dangers in the plant. The occupier/ manager will take corrective
measures.

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Under Rule 61 of the Tamil Nadu Factories Rules, 1950
various measures required to be taken by the factory management
in connection to fire prevention & protection.
1. Processes, equipment, plant, etc.,
involving serious explosion and serious
fire hazards:
• Access for fire fighting facilities/
equipment
• Protection against lightning
• Precautions against ignition
• Spontaneous ignition
• Cylinders containing compressed gas
• Storage of flammable liquids
• Accumulation of flammable dust, gas,
fume or vapor in air or flammable
material on the floors,
• Fire exits
• First-aid fire-fighting arrangements
• Other fire-fighting arrangements
• Personnel in-charge of equipment and
for fire fighting fire drills etc.

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Rule 61 has been annexed with two Schedules
In Schedule-I, under the caption of First-Aid Fire Fighting Equipment, Class
of fire and suitable type of fire fighting appliances are mentioned. This
aspect covers different types of fire extinguishers suitable for A/B/C/D
class of fires.
In Schedule-II different kinds of fire fighting equipment to be provided
with Trailer Pump, large trailer pump of capacity of 1800 liters/minute at
100 PSI are mentioned. Equipment include suction hoses, delivery hoses,
braches, nozzles, strainers, wrenches etc.
Under Rule 61 of the Tamil Nadu Factories Rules, 1950

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Section 61. Fire protection
Sub Section - (12) Personnel in-charge of equipment and for fire fighting, fire
drills, etc.
• Fire fighting drills shall be held as often as necessary, and at least once in every
period of 3 months,
• Emergency Evacuation Training Requirements
• Emergency Exit Requirements
• Fire – Reporting
• Fire Extinguishers
• Review of Fire Prevention Plan
• Rescue and First Aid Procedures
• First Aid Kits
• When to call fire brigade?

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In addition to the Section 61 - Any trade or activity covered under
the following Act and Rules would be required to mandatorily obtain
fire license (NOC):
Once the provision of NOC come in picture, the requirements of
NBC is required to be met.
• Explosive Act
• Petroleum Act and Rules
• SMPV (U) Rules,
• Gas Cylinders Rules
• The District Municipalities Act
• PNGRB (ERDMP) Regulations.

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The main objective of NBC is to specify measures for level of safety
required from fire, which is practical and can be reasonably achieved.
The code insists upon compliance with minimum standards of fire
safety necessary for building occupants and users.
The Part-4 (Fire and Life Safety) of NBC, which contains the fire safety
norms through detailed provisions on fire prevention, life safety and
fire protection. It gives guidance by specifying the standards for
construction, plumbing, electrical installations including wiring, lighting,
ventilation, heating and air conditioning, safety sanitation, active and
passive fire protection systems, etc.
2. National Building Code Requirements
Continued….

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The code recognizes that safety of life is more than a matter of means
of egress, and accordingly deals with various matters which are
considered essential to the safety of life.
The code therefore covers provisions relating to means of egress
covering various components thereof namely exit access, exit and exit
discharge. It also covers provisions relating to fire protection of various
occupancies through portable and fixed firefighting installations.
(Refer Table- 7 of NBC 2016)
National Building Code Requirements

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NBC, Chapter-4 adopted by many State Govt. and rules are also made and
enforced. In these rules requirement of Fire Officer and trained staff is
insisted for certain type of occupancies:
a) High Rise building (30M)
b) All hotels, identified under classification of three starts and above and all
hotels above 15M height with 150 beds capacity or more without start
category.
c) All hospitals building of 15M and above or having number of beds
exceeding 100.
d) Underground shopping complex where covered area exceeds 1000 Sq.M.
e) All High Hazard Industries.
(Organizational setup for fire fighting)

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NBC, Chapter-4 also insists for certain fire resistance rating structures in
buildings:
a) Walls of lift enclosures shall have fire rating or 2-hours.
b) Landing door in lift enclosures and lift car door shall have fire resistance
rating of 1-hour.
c) Service duct shall be enclosed by walls and door, if any of 2-hrs. fire
rating.
d) The electric distribution cables/ wires shall be laid in a separate duct and
shall be sealed at every floor with non-combustible material having the
same fire resistance as that of the duct.
e) Fire/ smoke dampers (for smoke extraction shafts) for building more
than 24 M in height.
(Built in safety in civil design and construction)

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f) The boilers, if it is in the building should be periphery of basement, it
must be installed in a fire resistance room of 4-hrs. rating.
(Built in safety in civil design and construction) –Contd..
Building shall be planned, designed and constructed to ensure fire safety and
this shall be done in accordance wit Part-4 (fire protection) of NBC. The
building scheme shall also be cleared by Chief Fire Officer.
As per NBC all around the buildings a free space of 6M must be
kept for Fire truck and Ambulance movement.

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NBC, Chapter-8 deals with electrical safety in building. This includes:
A standby electric generator shall be installed to supply power to
staircase and corridor lighting circuits, lifts detection system, fire pumps,
pressurization fans and blowers, PA system, Exit Sign, smoke extractor
system.
Electric sub-station safety measures:
a) The sub-station must not be located below 1st basement and above the
ground floor.
b) Sub-station enclosure must be completely segregated with 4-hrs. fire
rating wall from remaining part.
(Electrical safety in buildings)

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c) Oil filled transformer shall be protected with High Velocity Water Spary
System/ Nitorgen injection system/ Carbon dioxide total flooding system.
Preferably have oil free transformer in building.
d) Exits from basement sub-station shall have self-closing fire smoke check
door of 2-hrs. fire rating near entry to ramp.
(Electrical safety in buildings) –Contd...

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1. Fire Prevention: This is the first and pro-active step to control
fire. This includes prevention measures in place before the fire.
2. Fire Protection: This is the second step, which comes into
picture, once fire occurs. So, system and facilities are in place
to tackle fire at the incipient stage only, without much damage.
3. Emergency Handling: The third step is emergency handling,
when fire /leak is handled in organized manner as per plan to
reduce the impact of fire/ emergency.
3. Three Steps of Fire Control

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Fire prevention & Fire protection
both are essential to keeping you and
your Premises safe but they are subtly
different.
Fire prevention involves proactive
steps taken to reduce the fire hazards
so that a fire does not have a chance
to ignite. Examples of fire hazards
include overloaded electrical sockets,
Poor housekeeping, smoking,
improperly stored flammable
materials, and poorly maintained heat
or electric systems etc.

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1. In-built passive fire protection: Fire proofing of structures, Use
of FLP electric fittings, Use of fire safe ROV etc.
2. Develop certain norms for fire prevention: No smoking, Work
permit system, Follow SOP, Use of non-sparking tools etc.
3. Employee awareness and training programs to identify hazard
4. Ensure Good housekeeping
5. Regularly inspect /audit of buildings, plants and equipment.
6. Shop-wise designate internal safety observers
7. Report fire hazards, incidents, and near-misses.
8. Take appropriate precautions based on identified hazards.
4. Fire Prevention Planning and strategies

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Fire Protection systems are a
series of components that work
together to detect fires and
mitigate the negative impacts.
Fire Protection includes alarm,
suppression systems, sprinklers
system, extinguishers and any
technology that allows you to
alert people or monitor the fire
and help in extinguishing.
Fire Protection

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STORAGE OF GAS CYLINDERS
 Cylinders should be stored in well ventilated shed, away for rain, direct sun ray, heat
and any combustible/ flammable material on raised surface. The shed should be made
out of non-combustible material.
Acetylene and oxygen cylinders should be stored separately in earmarked places in
different sheds, away from each other.
Empty and filled cylinders should be stacked separately in earmarked area in vertical
position.
The cylinders should be firmly secured against accidental fall.
The number of filled cylinders should not exceed the limits mentioned in GCR.
(Acetylene- 25 nos. & O2- 200 nos.)
Valve protection cap should be placed on each cylinder.
Each cylinder should be safely accessible.

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STORAGE OF GAS CYLINDERS
 If light is provided in acetylene cylinder shed, all electric fittings should be FLP type.
MSDS of gases should be prominently displayed.
Fire extinguishers should be placed in accessible location, away from hazard.
“NO SMOKING” sign should be prominently displayed.

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TRANSPORTATION OF GAS CYLINDERS
No cylinder should be rolled and allowed to hit
violently with each other.
 Cylinder should be allowed to transfer from one place
to another in vertical position, firmly secured through
Trolley/ Cradle in premises.
The valve protection cap should be in place during the
transportation.
Use required PPE such as Safety shoe, Safety Helmet,
Hand gloves and safety glass, while handling gas
cylinders.

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IMPROPER HANDLING OF GAS CYLINDERS

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KNOW ABOUT GAS CYLINDERS
 Each gas cylinder has a Identification Number, permanently embossed on the body of
the cylinder. This unique no. is given by PESO as per Gas Cylinder Rules. These cylinders
are required to be tested periodically.
Acetylene gas is kept in cylinder, dissolved in Acetone. The cylinder is kept filled
with monolithic porous substances (Calcium Silicate) to distribute the acetylene
throughout the cylinder volume. The color of cylinders is maroon.
Acetylene is unsaturated and highly flammable in nature with inflammability range of
2.5 to 82% (by volume). The gas is slightly lighter than air.
Cylinder may or may not be fitted with fusible link as safety device to prevent it from
exploding.
Cylinders are never to be kept in horizontal condition, even when these are empty.
Fully charged cylinder is kept pressurized at about 16 bar.

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KNOW ABOUT OXYGEN CYLINDERS
 Oxygen gas is not flammable, but it supports combustion, so the
flammability of many items depends on % availability of oxygen gas.
Gas does not burn or explode. But cylinder can explode due to excessive
heat.
 Cylinders are normally charged at a pressure of maximum 230 bar.
 Cylinders are black in color.
Cylinder valve is fitted with safety device to drain oxygen slowly in event of
high temperature.

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CYLINDER BLAST IN NEWS

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CYLINDER BLAST IN
NEWS

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5. What is Fire action Notices
• Fire Action Notices are designed to tell occupants/ visitors what to do in the
event of a fire. They give various instructions including where the closest
assembly point is & how to raise the alarm?
• It is recommended that Fire Action Notice Sign are to placed at prominent
locations in premises. In an Industrial establishment, the Security may brief all
visitors about the Fire Action Notices, Whereas all others should be covered
under Safety Induction Training.
How to prepare fire action Notices

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EMREGENCY PLAN OF INDUSTRY
EMERGENCY DRILLS
EVACUATION PLAN
Reference : PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS REGULATORY BOARD
(CODE OF PRACTICE FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE & DISASTER
MANAGEMENT PLAN) REGULATIONS, 2010

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I. Definitions:
DISASTER: A catastrophe, mishap, calamity of grave occurrence in any area, arising
from natural or man-made causes, or by accident or negligence which results in
substantial loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of property, or
damage to or degradation of environment, and is of such a nature or magnitude as to
beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area.
EMERGENCY: It means a situation or scenario which has the potential to cause serious
danger to persons, environment or damage to property and which tends to cause
disruption inside or outside the premises and may require the help of outside
resources.

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II. Classification of emergencies:
LEVEL-1: The emergency / incident, which can be safely managed and contained within
the site/ installation by available resources. This has no impact outside the installation.
LEVEL-II: The emergency / incident, which can not be effectively and safely managed or
contained at the location or installation with available resources and additional support
is required. It has the potential to have effect beyond the installtion and where
external support of mutual aid is required. It is likely to be danger to life, the
environment or to the industrial assets or reputation.
LEVEL-III: The emergency / incident with off-site impact which could be catastrophic
and is likely to affect the population, property and environment inside and outside the
installation, and management and control is done by District Administration. Although,
the Level-III emergency falls under the purview of District Authority, but till they step in,
it is responsibility of the unit to manage the emergency.

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III. Pre- Emergency Planning :
1. Hazard Identification: The hazard of the installation need to be identified through
various hazard identification techniques, such as HAZOP Study, QRA, Fault Tree
Analysis, Event Tree Analysis, What if analysis etc. Use MSDS to identify the hazards
of chemicals. Natural perils are also required to be considered.
2. Risk Analysis and Risk Assessment: Each hazard identified should be assessed for
risk involved. The QRA (Quantitative Risk Analysis) method should be used to
identify the risk level for chemicals, gases etc. using available software. The criteria
such as Consequences, Frequency, probability factors should be used in
assessment. Maximum tolerable criteria should be defined.
The measures should be in place to bring down the risk to ALARP level. The
recommendations of QRA/ HAZOP study etc. should be implemented.

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IRPA (Individual Risk Per Annum) :
A risk of 10 per million per year, or , effectively means that any person standing at
a point of this level or Risk would have a 1 in 100 000 chance of being fatally injured per
year.
10-5/ Year

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3. Cause of disasters :
Man Made Natural Calamities Extraneous
• Heavy Leakage
• Fire
• Explosion
• Failure of critical control
system
• Design deficiency
• Unsafe acts
• Inadequate maintenance
• Flood
•Earth Quake
• Cyclone
• Outbreak of Disease
• Excessive rains
• Tsunami
• Pandemic
• Riots/ Civil Disorder / Mob
attack
• Terrorism
• Sabotage
• Bomb threat
• War/ Hit by missiles
• Abduction
• Food poisoning / Water
Poisoning
• Drone attack
•Cyber attack

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4. Consequences:
The consequences of any incident may be confined within the premises or
may spill off-site trigging cascading effects.
The consequences of an incident may be fire, explosion, blast waves etc.
resulting in direct effects like damage ot building/ property , burns, fatalities
etc. The incident in the neighborhood may some time cascade into an on-site
emergency. It should be taken care.

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IV. Emergency Preparedness Measures:
Emergency Drills and Mock Exercises:
1. To evaluate the effectiveness of plan, it is necessary to conduct periodic emergency
drills for various levels of emergencies in normal shifts and in odd hours. It should be
for variety of scenarios. The scenarios identified in QRA should also be taken into
consideration.
2. The frequency for each level of drills should be specified. For Level-II drills, mutual aid
partners should be involved. Installation shall coordinate with District Authority for
Level-III drills. In a year minimum 1 no. of level-II and 1 no. of Level-III drill should be
conducted. Level-III drills will be headed by District Administration. External resources
such as Police, State Fire Service, Hospitals, Transport, Civil Defense, SDRF may
participate in drill.

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Emergency Drills and Mock Exercises:
3. These mock drills will enable the installation to assess the capabilities of individuals
and performance as a group. The Observers for the drill should be pre-decided and
the response time of emergency coordinators and other resources should be
recorded. The shortcoming in terms of resources, coordination etc. should be
recorded and deliberated in post drill meeting for improvement. It should be minuted
and follow up should be done for implementation of recommendations.
4. Written Mutual aid agreement should be carried out before hand with adjoining
industries for helping each other during emergency. The resources, which can be
released during emergency should be part of mutual aid agreement.
5. Training to be imparted on plan to each coordinators, who are directly or indirectly
have a role in emergency handling. Live fire training also to be given to target group.
Awareness training on emeregency handing to be given periodically to all concerned.

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V. Emergency Organisation and Responsibilities :
1. An emergency organisation chart (name-wise) with succession chart for handling
various levels of emergencies should be in place. The overall in-charge in case of Level-
II emergency may be Chief Incident Controller (CIC) for the installation and at affected
site, it may be Site Incident Controller (SIC). They will be assisted by other emergency
coordinator such as Fire & Safety Coordinator, Engineering Coordinator,
Communication Coordinator, Media coordinator, Welfare coordinator, Medical
coordinator, Security coordinator etc.
2. Roles and responsibilities of each coordinator shall be categorically defined in the
Plan taking into consideration the all foreseen emergencies.
3. The siren code for various levels of emergency should be covered in Plan and same
should be displayed at various locations.

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VI. Infrastructures :
1. Disaster Control Room/ Emergency Control Center (ECC): Each installation shall have
an designed ECC with alternate ECC. ECC shall me made of non-combustible materials
at safe location. It should be equipped with all communication facilities, UPS, required
drawings & documents. The plan layout, firewater, emergency organisation chart,
contract no. of internal safety coordinators, external emergency coordinators, district
authorities, statutory bodies, hospitals, mutual aid partners etc. should be displayed at
ECC. All activities during the emergencies and also during mock drills (Level-II & III)
should be recorded at ECC by nominated person.
2. Assembly Points: The installation may have 2 or more Assembly points, safely located
for safe evacuation of working personnel in case of emergency. It should be displayed
at site with name of AP in-charge. These should be clearly visible in night and
directional board of AP should be displayed at plant.

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VII. Resources for controlling emergencies :
1. Depending on size, hazard and complexity, the resources required for controlling
emergencies should be identified in document, which should include:
• Fire & gas detection system
• Fire Protection & Fire fighting system
• Ambulance availability
• PPE & Rescue facilities
• First aid facilities (in-house & in nearly health centers/ hospitals)
• Communication facilities
• Escape route & Evcaution Zone
• Emergency shut down system

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VII. Resources for controlling emergencies (Contd..) :
2. Plan should include resources (including manpower) available with followings during
emergencies:
• Fire Dept.
• Police
• Municipal & provincial agencies
• Hospitals & doctors
• Mutual aid organizations
• Co-operatives
• Helicopter & air transport services
• Surface transport services
• Fire safety & monitoring equipment suppliers
• Spill response and /or clean up services
3. All available resources should be identified and recorded.

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VIII. Demographic information:
1. Plan should be prepared on basis of followings:
• Neighboring population in 2 KM radius (or as per consequence analysis)
• Housing colonies of industries
• Sensitive institutions such as schools, hospitals, religious establishments, old age
home etc.
• Cattle & livestock
• Flora and fauna

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IX. Medical facilities:
1. Plan should be include the followings:
• Facilities available at first aid center
• List of trained first aiders in plant
• Facilities available at identified hospitals and other local hospitals
• Antidotes and other emergency medicines
• Details of specialized doctors in the town
• Details of hospital in nearby cities

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X. Evacuation facilities:
1. The plant should have an written evcaution plan and safe evacuation of all working
personnel in plan during emergency. For level-III emergencies, District Authority shall
take care, however the safe shelters such as nearby schools, community centre,
Panchayat bhawans should be identified by occupier to assist District Authority.
2. Evacuation plan should include authority to declare partial or full evacuation and
signal floor evacuation, route for evacuation and assembly points.
3. The persons need to be identified for evacuation. Normally non-essential persons
(contractor employees, visitors, maintenance staff, non-technical staffs) who does not
direct role in emergency handling may be evacuated.
4. The list of essential persons may include Fire & safety, Security, Medical, Production
personnel and also the personnel who has direct role in emergency plan.

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X. Evacuation facilities (Contd…):
4. The evacuation plan may include safe dispersal of trucks, wagons etc. as may be
required.
5. Training should be imparted to all for safe evacuation.
6. The resources such as adequate numbers of Wind socks, Self rescue sets, Flashlights/
supplementary lights, Buses etc. should be in place for safe evacuation and people
should be aware off.
7. PA system and mega phone with a vehicle should be available.
8. Provision of food and drinking water should be considered at assembly point and
transfer point.

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IS 9457:2005
Indian Standard Safety Colures & Safety signs — Code of Practice
• Safety Sighs
• Prohibition
• Warning
• Mandatory
• Dimension
• Layout

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XI. Information to Public:
4. The safety precautions to be taken in the event of an emergency shall be known to
public, who is likely to be affected.
5. For the purpose “Dos and Don’ts” to be displayed outside the gate of the premises
and in neighboring areas.
6. The resources such as adequate numbers of Wind socks, Self rescue sets, Flashlights/
supplementary lights, Buses etc. should be in place for safe evacuation and people
should be aware off.
2. Provision of food and drinking water should be considered at assembly point and
transfer point.

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XII. Roles and responsibilities of stake holders including external agencies:
1. Roles & responsibilities of stakeholders including external agencies such as District
Authorities, Police, Fire services, Revenue dept. Health dept., Pollution Control board ,
NDRF & SFRF to be covered in plan.

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XIII. Reporting of the Incident:
1. Report of all incidents including near-misses shall be maintained by the occupier in
prescribed format and submit report quartely to PNGRB and other statutory bodies .
2. An incident shall be considered major , if any of the following occurs:
• Fire for more than 15 minutes
• Explosion/ blowout
• Fatal accident
• Loss over 20.00 Lakhs
• Cumulative man hours lost more than 500 hrs.
• Plant shutdown/ outage due to incident
3. Such incident shall be reported within 4 hours and detail report within 48 hours. Detail
investigation report within 30 days.

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XIV. Termination of emergency:
1. The all clear siren shall be blown after search and rescue operation and ensuring that
there is no more casualty at affected site and head count is matching.
2. The termination activities shall concentrate on giving accurate information to people
who need it most especially employees, neighborhood, District Authorities engaged in
off-site activities.
XV: Emergency Recovery procedure:
1. The following activities to be carried out in detail:
• Information to statutory authorities
• Incident investigation & detail report preparation including lesson learnt.
• Damage assessment
• Salvage of products, decontamination, clean up & restoration
• Ambient air monitoring by SPCB within 5 KM radius to determine contamination level.

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XVI. ERDMP for road transport:
1. The plant should have specified resources to respond to road accident calls, involving
chemicals.
2. Such plan should be shared with other nearby oil & gas installation. Local specific
availability of Emergency Response Vehicle shall be covered in plan.
3. Requirement of TREM card
4. Role of external agencies in road transportation
XVII. Integration of plan with NDMP

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se Study discussions

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CASE STUDIES
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