Introduction : Here you have need to about the fire hazards, various causes of fires and the precautions to be taken to avoid them. You also learnt about various types of fire extinguishers available to stop fire and also how to use the extinguishers effectively. As you are aware, the laboratories, especially the chemical laboratories, pose a potential risk of fire due to the nature of work being done and the chemicals being stored and used. Appropriate provisions for the storage and handling methods go a long way towards minimising the hazards.

We have discussed these aspects. Nevertheless, there is always a probability of fire. A suitable training to the technical staff of the laboratory is essential for effectively dealing with fire accidents. In this exercise, you will be doing two activities related to the fire safety measures. In the first activity you are going to survey the labs for their fire preparedness i.e. how well the labs are equipped with fire fighting mechanisms in case of a mishap. In the second activity you will learn about the use of a fire extinguisher.