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Clean Room Emergency Response
Semiconductor Manufacturing Clean Rooms
Industries such as electronics, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, food processing and other fields recognize that to accomplish their unique types of manufacturing, a very clean environment has to be created and maintained to prevent introducing an unacceptable risk of contamination from micron sized particles. Years ago, while teaching a class for Hewlett Packard, I learned that an entire days prodcution costing millions of dollars had to be scrapped because someone had worn old spice aftershave.
Doe your first-in response area include clean rooms?
Just how prevalent are these occupancy types?
Are you prepared and knowledgeable on the dangers involved with these types of responses?
Have you heard the term "scrubbers" before?
What concerns would you have if required to provide roof ventilation or assessment?
Can you read and understand a NFPA 704 Hazard Diamond and do you use a contrasting background for the numbers and special information?
Have you developed a way to preplan a large facility, which is typically the type associated with clean rooms?
Or... is this old news to you?
CBz
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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Yes, we do have buildings that have clean rooms, yet the extent and use does vary. The picture you present is not reminiscent of any that we would see, but there are a variety of aspects involved. Most clean areas we tend to see involve operating electronics, computers, etc and not the manufacturing of such.
What does typically standout, and not presnted here, is the presence of a clean agent fire suppression system for such areas too. In most cases, such clean agents consist of a HALON or similar clean agent flooding system, but I have come across a fixed CO2 flooding as well. What should stand out for first responders is to recognize such a system and know how it operates. For example, if you DID have a fire in a space protected with such a system, do you know the "soak" time for such an agent before checking things out? With most systems and with most areas, you are contending with a smaller, sealed/contained space where such an agent will be useful. This means if the system was activated, you may have to wait up to 15 minutes or so before entering to check for hot spots etc.......going in sooner can negate the effectiveness of the agent and thus also increase damage.
Another thing is with most places like this you have or should have a building rep who is knowledgeable of the issues of such rooms and is someone you would want with you, or at a command post. For such places, these folks should be part of a unified command or at least a liason with command....IE, don't let them wander off. This is also imperative when it comes to venting, because for the most part, you may be able to vent with the building's HVAC as opposed to FD interventions.
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