Hospitality Focus on Safety: Flammable and Combustible Liquids
Definition:
Flammable and Combustible Liquids are liquids that can ignite and burn. Proper storage and treatment of these liquids will prevent fires in the hotel.
Potential Exposures:
- Electricity
- Smoking
- Friction of Equipment
- Overheated Materials
- Hot Surfaces and Burned Flames
- Sparks and Embers
- Static Discharges
- Lightning
Properties:
- The vapor burns, not the liquid.
- The flash point is the minimum temperature at which a liquid gives off vapors that can be ignited. The lower the flashpoint, the greater the hazard.
- Flammable liquid vapors are heavier than air and tend to settle on the floor or flow along the ground.
- Liquids that have a flash point below room temperature are more hazardous than others because they give off flammable vapors whenever they are exposed to air.
Prevention:
- Purchase in smaller quantities and only store the minimum amount needed
- Do not mix these liquids. Label piping and containers carefully to prevent mixing.
- Store flammable liquids in closed metal containers, preferably in a specially designed, UL-approved, flammable liquid storage cabinet.
- Smoking prohibition signs should be posted in areas where flammables are stored and smoking should never be allowed in the area where these liquids are used.
- Electrical equipment that is expected to power on, in the proximity of these liquids, must be used with special safeguards, such as explosion-proof wiring.
- Never store or use these liquids around equipment that sparks, burns or uses a flame.
- Protect your lungs, skin, eyes and mouth when using a flammable or combustible liquid as the fumes can be severely irritating and dangerous.
- Reduce the risk of static electricity spark by grounding or bonding the containers.
- If a fire is ignited, be sure to only use a Class B Fire Extinguisher, as water will cause these fires to spread.
- Before disposing of an empty container, ensure that it is filled with water and tightly closed.
In the event of a fire or injury due to flammable or combustible liquids:
- Follow the guidelines for the incident found in the Emergency Binder.
- If you feel you may have incurred an injury of any kind, report it immediately to your supervisor.
- In the event of a containable fire, use a Class B Fire Extinguisher.
- Be very clear on whether you require immediate medical attention, imminent medical attention or request additional accommodations to prevent injury in the future.
- Report the incident to the Risk Management Team.
- Inform the staff of the incident and make corrections to procedures or errors to ensure that this incident does recur.
June McCreight
June McCreight began her career in the hospitality industry as a housekeeper in 1996. In the years since, she has risen through the ranks, learning maintenance, front office, sales and revenue management, property management and district management, bench management and opening team management. She has trained hundreds of hoteliers and won many awards for her management successes. In 2011, June wrote and published, The Strangers in My Beds, a fictional novel based strictly on the strange events of her career in hotels. In 2014, June partnered with her father, a very accomplished software architect, and opened the business, Coba Enterprise Management, LLC with a very unique and specialized CMMS (Computer Maintenance Management System) software for hotels.
