Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 12.8
Examples of possible joint investigations
Type of adverse event
Level of investigation
Internal resources
External bodies
who may investigate
Explosion and fi re in the
High
Senior manager
Coroner
workplace that results in fatal/
Employees' representative
Police
serious injury accident at
ROES
HSE/local authority
work
Section managers
Trading standards
Workforce
Insurance company
Accidental fi re in the workplace
High
Senior manager
Fire authority
causing stoppage for 24 hours
Employees' representative
HSE/local authority
ROES
Insurance company
Section managers
Workforce
Deliberate fi re in the workplace
High
Senior manager
Fire authority
Employees' representative
Police
ROES
HSE/local authority
Section managers
Insurance company
Workforce
Fire causing a 3-day injury
Medium
Middle managers
HSE/local authority
to contractor
Employees' representative
Contracting company
ROES
Fire resulting in minor damage
Minimum
Section managers
Insurance company
to work equipment
Workforce
Electrical circuit overloaded
Medium
Section managers
HSE/local authority
by the excessive use of adaptors
Workforce
Insurance company
12.5.4 The fi re investigation process
representatives, i.e. a fi re in the computer server. Other
fi res may be investigated by other agencies; Table 12.8
gives further examples of how various types of fi re event
may be investigated.
When examining the site of a fi re there are a number of
aspects that will enable the investigator to understand
the immediate and underlying cause/s of the fi re:
Aspect
Comment
The site
An examination of the site will give an indication of whether the circumstances were normal. For example, are all the
conditions
security systems in place and working? Is there any evidence of unauthorised practices? Is there any evidence of
forced entry?
Low points
Under normal conditions fi re burns vertically upwards, therefore the identifi cation of the lowest point of burn at the
of burn
site of a fi re will give a good indication of where the fi re started. In the case of fi res that have been deliberately
set it is common to identify a number of different seats of fi re by observing a number of low points of burn. Although
this is a good indicator of the seat of a fi re, low points of burn can also occur when materials or substances melt or
fall down from a higher level and create an intense burn at a low level.
Possible
It is necessary to consider every conceivable heat source (see above) as a possible initiator of the fi re. There may
heat sources
be occasions when there are more than one heat source; in these circumstances the Fire Service will attribute a
percentage rating to the sources they consider as initiators of the fi re.
Evidence of
When examining a fi re scene it is often not clear how the fi re has spread, particularly if there are a variety of materials
fi re spread
involved. Reference to the mechanisms of fi re spread will help the consideration of conduction, convection,
radiation and direct burning as methods of how the fi re as spread. This will also help to confi rm the location of the
seat of the fi re.
The effects of
Various materials will react differently when exposed to extreme temperatures. The table in (Appendix 6.5) provides
temperature
an indication of how hot various regions of the fi re had become and so will also help to indicate the seat and spread
of the fi re.
