- Author
-
Slater, J. A.
- Title
- Development of a Data Base for Assessing Plastics Fire Hazards.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Sponsor
- Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC
- Report
-
NBSIR 78-1422,
April 1978,
38 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
-
accident investigations
|
fire hazards assessment
|
flammability tests
|
hazards analysis
|
human behavior
|
plastic fires
|
plastics
|
product safety
|
building fires
- Abstract
- The growing use of plastics has, in recent years, produced an increased concern over the potential flammability of plastics materials and products. In order to assess some of the real-life hazards associated with fire incidents involving plastics, a data base of residential fire accidents is being developed. The data consist of detailed case history reports based on a questionnaire form developed at the National Bureau of Standards and laboratory tests of samples retrieved at the fire scene. The major criteria for a fire incident to be included in the data base are that (1) an identifiable plastic product played a significant role in the fire and (2) the sequence of events can be partially reconstructed. Information is collected about the building environment in which the fire occurred, the products and the persons involved in the incident, the fire development and extinguishment. The field data are being coded and computerized. Sample tabulations of field and laboratory data from the first 25 accident cases are shown.