Fire extinguishers are primary fire extinguishing equipment that have a finite service life. To ensure their reliability and operability during operation, they must be periodically serviced to be able to detect and eliminate malfunctions in a timely manner.
Fire extinguisher maintenance — is a set of measures aimed at checking and diagnosing a fire extinguisher in order to ensure its operability in standby modes, intended use, transportation and storage, or to make decisions regarding its recharge, repair or write-off and removal from service.
Subject to technical maintenance fire extinguishers
- in the absence of
- marking
- fillings
- locking device
- working pressure in the housing
- if available
- mechanical damage
- traces of corrosion
- after the warranty period of operation or storage has expired
- after use as directed
- next maintenance due date
Service stages
- diagnostics,
- identification,
- recharge,
- fire extinguisher repair,
- fire extinguisher write-off.
Technical diagnostics of a fire extinguisher
Technical diagnostics of a fire extinguisher is a stage of maintenance that allows you to determine the technical condition of the fire extinguisher, find a malfunction, and make a further decision regarding possible repair, recharge, or write-off.
Fire extinguisher certification
The fire extinguisher body is inspected at least once every five years, as well as in cases where various kinds of damage, dents, or rust are detected on the fire extinguisher body that were detected during diagnostics.
The main goal is to establish the absence of damage and the serviceability of the cylinder body with the propellant gas, check their strength by conducting a hydraulic test, and make a decision on the possibility of their further operation.
Recharging a fire extinguisher.
Recharging a fire extinguisher is carried out in order to replace the charge of extinguishing agent and (or) propellant gas in its housing.
A complete replacement of the extinguishing agent and a hydraulic test of the fire extinguisher body are carried out once every five years.
Fire extinguishers must be recharged after use for their intended purpose or according to the results of their technical diagnostics.
Recharging fire extinguishers is carried out at a fire extinguisher maintenance point (FTP), which must have a license from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine for this type of work.
Marking
After maintenance, a label of the established type is affixed to the fire extinguisher body.
The marking label indicates:
– name and legal address of the PTOV;
– license number;
– places for marking signs indicating the technical diagnostics and maintenance of the fire extinguisher (repair, technical certification, recharging).
Pay attention!. For safety reasons, no more than 50% fire extinguishers out of the total number of fire extinguishers may be sent for maintenance at one facility at a time.
Main regulatory documents
- DSTU 4297:2004 Firefighting equipment. Maintenance of fire extinguishers. General technical requirements (hereinafter referred to as DSTU 4297:2004);
- Technical guidelines of fire extinguisher manufacturers.
According to the requirements of the Fire Safety Rules in Ukraine, the responsibilities for ensuring that fire extinguishers are maintained in working condition are assigned to enterprise managers, who are also responsible for training employees in the rules for using fire extinguishers.
The work must be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the technical documentation of the manufacturers and approved maintenance work regulations.
