The biannual show now is expected to attract over 25,000 visitors and 800 exhibitors from all risk management sectors you can imagine, meaning that there should be something for everyone.

With a bit of luck President Bush won’t be showing his face in Dubai as part of a well-intentioned Middle East Peace Tour, as happened last year. The last-minute declaration of a national holiday resulted in extensive road closures – and only the most intrepid made it on that day.

Mobile public address systems allow emergency response personnel to give occupants of a building/train or industrial complex, additional live information about the nature of an evacuation. The system must be loud enough and powerful enough to reach all those people who need information – and who might not be linked to an existing warning system, text, email – or where an existing system is inoperable.

Jeff Berman, 55, came up with the idea for an Audible Guidance Beacon after gaining a Master of Science degree in Electronic Product Design. His Master’s practical project involved building a system that enabled blind people to practise the sport of archery – the “VectorSight” enables blind archers to aim at a target with the help of eight specific sound signals.

While doing everything in our power to eliminate industrial and public incidents, we can implement systems that detect the very first signs of combustion, intrusion, terrorist activity or other hazardous event.

What are the principal difficulties facing buyers in the industrial arena?

GSF Slides, a UK-based drawer slide company, has announced that its 20.0007 slide (yes, this is its name) is four times stronger than the standard type of heavy duty 500lb (227kg) class slide, typically specified for many US fire truck drawer trays.
The company conducted several tests to simulate standard operating conditions of slides mounted on fire apparatus.

There are many health and safety issues to overcome with industrial firefighting vehicles. The main challenge remains the plethora of different industrial applications, says Alfred Bidlingmaier from Iveco Magirus Brandschutz Technik in Germany. “A vehicle meant for a chemical or petrochemical plant, is totally different from one that is for an assembly or production factory.”

The Oshkosh Striker has gained almost iconic status in airport emergency response history, but apart from its famous angular appearance and its sheer firefighting power, a lot of thinking has gone into firefighter safety.

In Germany most petrochemical and chemical facilities run full professional fire services that attend every incident. Some just have a part time force which may receive insufficient training due to having to combine a conventional job in the plant with the function of emergency responder. “If a call comes in they get alerted to go to the scene, and then they  switch from being plant workers to firefighters,” explains Tonhaueser.

The term “passive fire protection” is used to describe a number of materials and systems of construction intended to delay the passage of fire from one part of a building to another. It is also true to say that it tends to be a “fit and forget” issue – largely because the occupiers and users of the building don’t fully appreciate its importance to the overall fire protection of the structure, its contents and its occupants.

Last year the Rotterdam-based company VSTEP successfully launched a new training tool called RescueSim IIM (Industrial Incident Management). This is a virtual scenario based training tool, which enables industrial response teams to exercise in a virtual environment, saving cost and reducing hazards.

Former Dutch fire officer and emergency management instructor Marco van Wijngaarden is president of ETC Simulation, a branch of ETC that developed the well-known  ADMS (Advanced Disaster Management Simulator).

Much has been written and reported about the effects of fire water run-off from large scale fire incidents. The problem isn’t new and there have been several landmark fires over the years to remind us that without careful planning disaster can strike – Allied Colloids, Bradford 1992, Sandoz, Basel 1986 and Buncefield, 2005 are seen as the worst case benchmarks for such incidents. Of course, Buncefield didn’t just force a reappraisal of groundwater contamination, it also highlighted the need to reappraise the risk assessments underpinning the approach to firefighting in storage depots. This article will focus on how foam proportioning itself can become part of the review process so that foam discharge is kept to the minimum whilst maximizing firefighting capability and cost effectiveness.

The chemists at Hamburg-based company Dr Sthamer have been developing speciality foams for specific risks for a long time, explains Jan Knappert (International Sales Director), which is why the organisation has developed a clear idea of the type of information required to develop a specification that fully meets the requirements specified.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched an international research initiative to develop improved aircraft fire fighting foams. The physical and chemical behaviour of foams is crucial in fire management and this research has been initiated by the CAA on behalf of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). This research will also allow a review of more recent developments in foam chemistry which would  include more viscose foams such as those formulated with gum, more commonly associated with alcohol resistant fuels but not permitted within the current ICAO standards.

Level C foam is the project of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which has put together a workstream to develop a new specification of level C foam. Tests that had been drawn together by Transport Canada and the UK Civil Aviation Authority took place in September in testing laboratory CNPP’s facilities in Saint Marcel, France.

Groveley Detection recently launched a new concept ultrasonic gas leak detector at ONS (Offshore North Sea) 2008 in Stavanger, Norway.

HOTA offers two state of-the-art emergency response suites where incident managers can exercise disaster scenarios in the most realistic manner possible, explains General Manager of HOTA, Linda Ellis. “We can replicate any type of disaster an offshore installation might face, ranging from minor gas release, explosion and fire to full evacuation of the platform.

Brian Jones, UK manager for Norwegian fire detection company Autronica has noticed that the trend within the offshore industry has moved from infrared point gas detectors towards open path detectors.

In ships and marine technology fire extinguishing systems for protection of galley deep-fat cooking equipment are becoming particularly popular. Over the past 10 years the use of more efficient cooking appliances and the increased use of vegetable cooking oils has increased the level of risk. Heating cooking oil to its auto-ignition temperature (around 365 °C) can lead to a very intense fire  that is very difficult to extinguish and which can involve the inside of the hood and exhaust duct – usually covered with grease and dust – resulting in an uncontrolled fire in the galley area.

High-pressure water mist systems are now widely accepted as an excellent alternative to the controversial CO2 or other gas-based systems for fire fighting in engine rooms, including total flooding and local application systems.

Water mist is an old technology, and physics shows the obvious characteristic where small droplets evaporate faster than large droplets. However, the attempts to use water mist for fire fighting purposes in the 1930s and the 1950s were not as successful as one might think.

Within the existing Pioner collection is the Firemaster coverall, an item of clothing that is prevalent with workers in the North Sea oil and gas industry, both onshore and offshore. The Firemaster was created for use in environments where flash flame hazards are present.

COBRA – the dual purpose extinguisher. The COBRA cutting extinguisher is an abrasive water jet cutter that has been modified for firefighting and also rescue work where it is essential to not generate sparks or heat.

A Vetter lift

Vetter has launched a new lifting bag which achieves a 25 per cent increase in lifting power compared to its 85-tonne solution.
The new S Tec bags achieve this powerful performance through a new operating pressure of 10 bar/145psi as opposed to the previous 8 bar Mini Lifting bags.
New practical design features include: reflecting centre and edge markers for improved visibility: up to three uniquely raised position aids on each side of the bag enabling easy handling, even in the dark: rounded side profiles to simplify insertion under a load.

Tyco Fire Suppression & Building Products has secured what is believed to be the largest single order ever placed in Turkey for HYGOOD FM-200 fixed fire suppression systems. 

The US Chemical Safety Board has released two new case-study safety videos.
The first is a safety video on the July 2007 explosion at the Barton Solvents distribution facility in Valley Center, Kansas.

Houston, USA, July 18. Four dead and seven were injured in Houston Refinery after a crane capable of lifting 800,000 pounds fell over at a LyondellBasell refinery in southeast Houston. The 300 feet tall crane (with a 400-foot boom) belonged to Louisiana-based company Deep South Crane & Rigging.

General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has ordered nine Oshkosh HT-Series snow tractors, three Oshkosh H-Series snow blowers and two Oshkosh Striker aircraft rescue and fire fighting (ARFF) vehicles.

In August news came of the horrific aeroplane accident in Madrid airport that killed 154 people. Around the same time ICAO was preparing for the testing of a new standard for airport firefighting foam, ICAO level C.

Buncefield Board calls for reform of major hazard sites