Fire protection systems can be complex, particularly when a system is installed in what is considered a “hazardous” environment, such as an offshore oil rig, a refrigeration plant that uses ammonia in its coolants or a manufacturing facility that uses chemical solvents to make plastic or for printing. It’s critical that the fire detection equipment used in such installations will not increase the fire hazard.
Security professionals that design and install fire protection systems know that requirements vary considerably from state to state and even from one municipality to another, depending on which version of the National Fire Protection Agency code is in effect. Determining the requirements for fire systems for use in hazardous areas is even more challenging because different types of hazardous areas have different fire protection requirements. Depending on the environment, an installation may have to meet requirements from organizations as diverse as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the International Code Committee or the Compressed Gas Association, security industry sources say. Those sources also note that there is not even a single widely recognized definition of the term “hazardous.”