A safety

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

is used for the safe storage of

flammable A combustible material is something that can burn (i.e., ''combust'') in air. A combustible material is flammable if it ignites easily at ambient temperatures. In other words, a combustible material ignites with some effort and a flammable mat ...

chemical substance A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

or compressed

gas cylinders A gas cylinder is a pressure vessel for storage and containment of gases at above atmospheric pressure. High-pressure gas cylinders are also called ''bottles''. Inside the cylinder the stored contents may be in a state of compressed gas, vapor ...

. Primarily, they should meet three major safety requirements: # Minimize the

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

risks associated with the storage of

substances and protect the cabinet's contents for a known (tested) minimum length of time (

fire rating A fire-resistance rating typically means the duration for which a passive fire protection system can withstand a standard fire resistance test. This can be quantified simply as a measure of time, or it may entail other criteria, involving evide ...

). It should prevent the materials stored in the cabinet from contributing to the spread of fire or leading to an explosion in the event of a fire # Minimize the amount of

vapor In physics, a vapor (American English) or vapour (British English and Canadian English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critic ...

released into the working

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

# Retention of accidental spillages within the cabinet Areas of application and uses are diverse: pharmaceutical, universities, hospitals, industry, workshops, public organizations working with hazardous substances etc. In essence, any facility where flammable substances are stored.

Legislation and guidance

In the UK, the most relevant regulation and guidance documents regarding the storage of flammable substances are: * DSEAR 2002: the Dangerous Substances & Explosive Atmosphere Regulations requires, by law, employers working with

substances to take all reasonable precautions to eliminate the danger at its source. Where possible,

substances should be substituted with safer materials, but where this is not possible, every effort must be made to control the substance to protect personnel,

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

and the environment. * HSG51: The storage of

flammable liquid A flammable liquid is a liquid which can be easily ignited in air at ambient temperatures, i.e. it has a flash point at or below nominal threshold temperatures defined by a number of national and international standards organisations. The Occupat ...

s in

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

s. This Health & Safety Guidance (HSG)

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Conve ...

from the HSE is aimed at anyone who has responsibility for the storage of dangerous substances, regardless of the size of storage facility. It sets out control measures aimed at eliminating or reducing risks to people at work or otherwise from the storage of packaged dangerous goods. It reflects good practice for the design of new storage facilities (and where reasonably practicable, to existing sites) and applies to transit or distribution warehouses, open-air storage compounds, and facilities associated with a

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

production site or end user. * HSG140: This Health & Safety Guidance (HSG)

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Conve ...

from the HSE is for those responsible for the safe use and handling of flammable liquids in all general work activities, small-scale chemical processing and spraying processes. It explains the fire and explosion hazards associated with flammable liquids and will help you determine how to control the risks in your workplace. * HSG71: This Health & Safety Guidance (HSG)

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Conve ...

from the HSE focuses on the classification of

hazardous A hazard is a potential source of harm. Substances, events, or circumstances can constitute hazards when their nature would allow them, even just theoretically, to cause damage to health, life, property, or any other interest of value. The probabi ...

materials and the relationships of those materials with each other. Particular focus is given to general recommendations for the separation or segregation of different classes of dangerous substances, including flammable liquids. This is essential practice to prevent reaction between incompatible product types possibly having extremely severe consequences for human life and property. *GHS: Globally harmonised system, is now the universal cross border guidance document that governs appropriate signage for safety boxes

Structure

The

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

design and testing of safety cabinets are regulated by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

adoption of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an standards BS EN 14470-1 (cabinets for

s) and BS EN 14470-2 (cabinets for pressurized gas cylinders). Safety cabinets usually consist of the following components: inner body, fire protection insulation, outer body, fresh air inlets and exhaust air connection points with auto shut-off, automated closing

mechanism Mechanism may refer to: *Mechanism (engineering), rigid bodies connected by joints in order to accomplish a desired force and/or motion transmission *Mechanism (biology), explaining how a feature is created *Mechanism (philosophy), a theory that a ...

s for the doors in case of fire (not with gas cylinder cabinets), heat-triggered self-expanding seals (intumescent) on the doors and optionally, an

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

connection. Safety cabinets to BS EN14470-1 for flammable substances, usually have storage shelves or pull-out drawers on which the chemicals are stored. The shelves or drawers should be load-tested and be able to support the loading specified by the manufacturer. To ensure the retention of accidental

spillage In industrial production, spillage is the loss of production output due to production of a series of defective or unacceptable products which must be rejected. Spillage is an often costly event which occurs in manufacturing when a process degrad ...

s within the cabinet, the cabinet must be equipped with spill containment sumps. Safety cabinets to BS EN14470-2 for pressurized gas cylinders, are designed to accommodate cylinders in working areas. The gas is supplied to the desired application via a pipeline through pipe lead-throughs in the roof of the cabinet. These pipe penetrations must be sealed to ensure fire protection. Many pressurized gas cylinder cabinets are also fitted with "rolling ramps" which are inserted into the door or can be folded out so that the fire protection seals are not damaged when the cabinet is loaded. Models are available in various widths, heights and fire resistance classes and with a choice of door and locking systems: * Widths (in cm): 60, 90, 120, 140 * Heights: Tall units or under-bench units available in various heights * Fire resistance classes: F15, F30, F60, F90 or G15, G30, G60, G90 Protection against fire (in minutes) * Door and locking systems: Wing and folding doors available with sensor-controlled and fully automated door opening/closing

Operation

Connection of safety cabinets to a permanent exhaust air system is recommended. If a safety cabinet is not connected to a technical exhaust air system, a certain area in front of and around the cabinet is considered a Zone 2

area. If the safety cabinet is connected to a 24-hour technical exhaust air system, then the hazardous area is limited to the inside of the cabinet. To prevent damage to the cabinet by corrosion, no acids or

alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a ...

s may be accommodated in this type of cabinet: TRbF Appendix L: Storage equipment in working areas (safety cabinets)/ points 4.1 and 4.2 as well as BGR 104 2.2.8). If the connection to an exhaust air system is not possible on site,

solvent A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...

and safety cabinets can be technically ventilated with a recirculating air filter unit. These units filter the exhaust air from the cabinet through an activated

carbon filter Carbon filtering is a method of filtering that uses a bed of activated carbon to remove impurities from a fluid using adsorption. Mechanism Carbon filtering works by adsorption, in which pollutants in the fluid to be treated are trapped inside th ...

, capturing harmful vapors and returning the cleaned air to the working environment.

Function

In the event of a fire and the attainment of an ambient temperature of 50 °C (+0/−10 °C), the drawers, if fitted, must first retract and the doors must automatically close. These actions are normally activated by bimetallic or

fusible link A fusible link is a mechanical or electrical safety device. They are used in fire sprinkler heads to activate the sprinkler in the presence of heat. They are used in automobile electrical systems as a fuse. Mechanical fusible link A mechanical ...

s. At approx. 70 °C, the fire

protection Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

valves in the fresh air inlets and exhaust air connection points auto-close. From an ambient temperature of approx. 160 °C, the intumescent seals foam up and expand to seal the joints at the doors. The cabinet is thus hermetically sealed. Safety cabinets with automatic door closing provide additional security. After a defined time interval, the cabinets close automatically, thus minimizing the exposure of the stored chemicals and reducing the risk of escaping

vapors. Safety cabinets for

compressed gas cylinder A gas cylinder is a pressure vessel for storage and containment of gases at above atmospheric pressure. High-pressure gas cylinders are also called ''bottles''. Inside the cylinder the stored contents may be in a state of compressed gas, vapor ...

s do not have an automatic door closing function, as the doors of these cabinets must always be closed during operation.

Performance

In line with the fire rating, the safety

prevents the stored goods from

heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. It is a component of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (short: HVAC) systems, which can both cool and warm interior spaces. ...

up over the specified length of time. For example, a Type 30 BS EN cabinet will guarantee 30 minutes of safety before the internal

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

becomes critical. A Type 90 BS EN cabinet offers maximum safety with 90 minutes protection. For

s and solids, this

rise is 180 °C (K) and for

pressurized gas A compressed fluid (also called a compressed or unsaturated liquid, subcooled fluid or liquid) is a fluid under mechanical or thermodynamic conditions that force it to be a liquid. At a given pressure, a fluid is a compressed fluid if it is at ...

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...

s, the permissible temperature rise is 50 °C (K). Testing is conducted as a freestanding single cabinet in a

suitable Proportionality is a general principle in law which covers several separate (although related) concepts: *The concept of proportionality is used as a criterion of fairness and justice in statutory interpretation processes, especially in consti ...

fire chamber. The entire cabinet must be exposed to the same heating conditions. The

rise is measured inside the cabinet according to the Unit

Temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

Curve (ETK).

Inspection and service

In accordance with BS EN 14470, a competent person must regularly inspect safety cabinets. This inspection should include: * Condition of the fusible links / fire protection valves * Condition of the fire protection insulation * Condition of the fire protection seals (intumescent) * Condition of the hinges * Functionality of the door closing * Functionality of the door interlock * Condition of the body (corrosion) * Compliance with Ex-areas * Measurement of the exhaust air volume flow (for technical ventilation) It is also a requirement of Section 6 of the

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974c 37 (abbreviated to "HSWA 1974", "HASWA" or "HASAWA") is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that defines the fundamental structure and authority for the encouragement, regulation and enfor ...

{{cite web, title=Section 6 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSW Act), url=https://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/uk-law-design-supply-products.htm#sec6hswa74 that equipment for use at work are regularly cleaned or maintained.

References

Cabinets (furniture)