Fire safety of gas equipment: rules and regulations for the operation of gas appliances

The necessary norms and rules for the operation of gas appliances are often not followed, since most users do not fully possess the necessary knowledge and skills. This is evidenced even by the fact that the owners use hundreds of thousands of faulty gas appliances. And they do not think about the impending danger.

Agree, it is a shame to suffer from the consequences of a gas leak or due to a faulty gas appliance. But to rectify the situation is not difficult - you should start by studying the rules, which will significantly reduce the likelihood of life-threatening situations. In this article, we will talk about what the fire safety of gas equipment is and what standards must be observed when operating various gas-using devices.

Everyday Safety Rules

Before any use of a gas appliance, a number of mandatory actions should be performed.

Namely, it is necessary:

1. Check for gas odor.
2. Check for traction. It should be remembered that her absence is a direct threat to life.
3. Open a window. Modern metal-plastic products can be installed in the ventilation mode. Which should occur during the entire process of burning energy.
4. Monitor the operation of the gas appliance. That is, working equipment should not be left unattended.
5. Turn off the taps of the gas appliance when it is no longer necessary to use it.

And also it should be remembered that the electric hood placed above the gas stove must be turned on before the gas combustion process begins. If the sequence is not followed, then the use of the specified equipment should be abstained.

It is important to remember that only people with appropriate skills and knowledge are allowed to operate gas appliances

What to do with a gas leak?

The formation of a gas-air mixture in a room is a fire and explosive phenomenon. And often leads to sad consequences. Therefore, identifying a leak, it is necessary to take appropriate measures.

The presence of danger is determined by the characteristic smell of “blue” fuel (special substances - odorants - with a sharp unpleasant odor are added to the gas, so that it is easier for users to notice a leak). Also, for safety reasons, you can install a special device that detects gas leakage - sensor.

Only serviceable gas appliances are allowed. Which consumers are required to keep clean. And this rule applies to the main for a reason. The reason is that fats, soot, other combustion products settled on the surfaces of equipment, chimneys, hoods are often the cause of fires.

An effective procedure for preventing fires and explosions is to regularly check for draft in the smoke exhaust system. Such an operation must be performed before each start-up of gas equipment, especially when climatic conditions are difficult. Since a normal gust of strong wind can create reverse thrust and burning sparks will fly into the room

Leaks most often occur in the area of ​​gas distribution connections, as well as cranes.

Having identified the smell of fuel, it is necessary to perform a number of actions, namely:

1. Turn off the taps of gas appliances (if they are open).
2. To organize the ventilation of the room. By this is meant the opening of windows and doors to ensure air exchange. At the same time, it is forbidden to turn on electric hoods, use other electrical appliances, lighters, lighting devices.
3. Leave the room where the leak is detected. But, if other people are present in the danger zone, then it is necessary to notify them and warn about the need to observe safety measures.
4. If necessary, organize an evacuation. In this case, you do not need to use electrical devices (for example, calls, phones). That is, to wake the residents of the neighboring apartment, you just need to knock, and not press the call button.
5. Notify gorgaz on-call services by calling 104 (04). But it should be remembered that a call can only be made in a safe place, which is not a room saturated with gas.

Special services can come to repair the leak at any time of the day. And they must be allowed into the necessary building, premises.

Gas consumers often try to dry things over burning burners. And the network is full of recommendations on how to quickly dry clothes using gas and an extractor fan, make a dryer for a stove, etc. But it is forbidden to use gas appliances for other purposes - this is one of the main causes of fires

Having detected a leak and / or having discovered a malfunction that may lead to a leak or has already led, you must call the gas service without fail. As well as take other necessary measures. Otherwise, you can pay a fine of 1-2 thousand rubles (according to Article 9.23 Administrative Code of the Russian Federation) And this is if everything went without consequences and there was no threat to the lives of citizens, and a mistake was made for the first time.

The necessary measures should be taken regardless of where the characteristic smell of fuel is detected - indoors, outdoors, in other places. That is, the procedure is the same for all situations.

When detecting the smell of gas, you do not need to reassure yourself with thoughts that it is not strong. Since explosions with possible subsequent ignition occur just at a low concentration of “blue” fuel, when it does not exceed 5-15% of the volume of the room. And with a larger value, the fuel just burns.

Leaving turned on gas appliances unattended is extremely dangerous. The reason is that a phone call, an interesting TV show can switch attention, which is fraught.It takes only a few minutes for boiling water to flood the flame or light up food in a pan

In the event of improper operation of gas appliances, wiring problems that threaten the formation of a gas-air mixture, the owner must arrange for their repair, and if necessary, replacement.

If the owner of the premises, the building will be absent there for a long period of time, it is necessary to contact gorgaz (raigaz) to turn off the gas supply. What is one of the measures to prevent energy leakage.

Rules for the use of gas appliances

Since the specified equipment can be of various types, you should know the features of the safe operation of each of them.

View # 1 - gas stoves

Only people who have received special instruction in safe use are entitled to use the gas stove.

It would be a bad idea to turn off the automation of gas appliances, especially the one responsible for safety. And also do not make changes to the design of boilers, stoves and other types of equipment. This is dangerous, and, in addition, the listed actions are considered offenses

The rules themselves say that:

• the owner must keep his stove clean, and most importantly, in good condition;
• Before turning on the stove, you must make sure that all of its taps, as well as the tap in front of the appliance itself, are closed, the windows in the room must be open;
• First, a flame source should be brought to the desired burner, and then open the stove tap;
• the color of the flame should be a bluish-violet (green) shade, the height of the flame on average 2-2.5 cm (it should respond to a change in the position of the handle of the crane).

If signs of malfunction are detected or the flame begins to change color from blue to any other, while it smokes, then the stove must be turned off immediately.

Since the facts of incomplete combustion of gas are on the face, which leads to the formation of a fire, explosive gas-air mixture in the room. And the smoking flame signals that carbon monoxide is accumulating. Which, under certain conditions, can also burn.

Often fires occur due to unauthorized connections of consumers to gas pipelines. And it should be remembered that such a violation of security measures is caused not only by a tapping into the system, but also by unauthorized interference with the operation of measuring equipment, replacement, transfer of devices without permission

Perform repairs yourself gas stove inspection, make changes to their design is not worth it. The same applies to replacement, transfer.

The detection of malfunctions, signs of incorrect operation of the equipment must be immediately reported to the gas service.

Having identified any malfunction, it is necessary to stop using gas appliances. And notify the gas service staff. Since only they have the right to carry out repairs, connections and many other procedures. In addition, in severe cases, the specialists of gorgaz (raigaz) have the right to fulfill their duties at any time of the day. And the owners of the premises are required to provide them with access

It is necessary to check the serviceability of the device regularly (recommended times are indicated by the manufacturer in the instructions for the specific model of gas equipment). What should the gas service specialists to do with service contract.

View # 2 - gas boiler

To avoid energy leakage and fire, any heater can only be used with traction. Which should be checked before switching on, as well as a few minutes after the start of use.

Only a serviceable gas boiler is allowed to operate. The same rule applies to his automation. In addition, to prevent the occurrence of fire hazard situations, a number of recommendations should be followed.

Namely:

• the window must be open during the operation of the boiler, and its presence in the room that is used as a furnace is a prerequisite, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the requirements for gas boiler room ventilation;
• before ignition, open the gate (restriction flap);
• regularly monitor the current state of the chimney, as its usual freezing can cause accumulation of carbon dioxide in the room.

Before the start of each season, the owner of the gas boiler is obliged to carry out work on its preparation for operation. Which should include monitoring the status of ventilation systems, smoke exhaust. And if there are foreign objects, dirt is cleaned, since the same soot quite often causes fires.

In addition, it is necessary to check and timely eliminate the violation of the integrity of the chimney.

It is no coincidence that gas is called “blue” fuel — its flame is of that color. If a color change is noticed on any other or the burner starts to smoke, then the use of a gas appliance should be stopped immediately

Fire safety measures during the operation of existing gas appliances will be incomplete if the entry points of all kinds of communications through the foundations of buildings are not sealed. The reason is that gas can penetrate the building through cracks, cracks, and splits (in cases of leakage from underground pipelines).

If the draft is not stable, then you need to remember that phenomena such as fog can reduce it to critical values strong wind.

View # 3 - gas oven

Gas furnaces are on the principle of operation and are structurally similar to boilers. As a result, the rules for safe use, the risks and causes of fires in both types of equipment are identical. And you can get acquainted with them in the previous section of the article.

View # 4 - instantaneous water heater

The room in which the indicated flowing gas water heater (column) is located must be equipped with a window and an extractor fan located on the ceiling.

Efficient ventilation and smoke exhaust system are the key to the safe use of any gas equipment. Therefore, the condition of their internal channels should be regularly monitored. And if necessary, clean. Moreover, this rule is relevant for all types of buildings, including apartment buildings

An important fire-fighting measure in this case is regular monitoring of traction. What should be done before turning on the water heater and 3-5 minutes after.

Testing is carried out using a lit match, which must be brought to a special hole. If everything is in order with the thrust, the tongue of the flame will draw inside the protective casing.

When heating water, it is imperative to control its temperature. That is, you should not leave the room with the device. As well as keeping the ignitor in working position for a long time.

In addition, the column is one of the most problematic gas appliances. Therefore, it should not be included idle. You can only use a working water heater with correctly working automation. Moreover, there should be no traces of external damage.

View # 5 - gas cylinders

The specified type of equipment - gas cylinders - cannot be used in the presence of any malfunctions.

It is important to always remember that it is strictly forbidden to use fire, electrical appliances when replacing an empty tank with a full one.

Before igniting the flame, it is necessary to open the window and ventilate the room where the gas appliance is installed. This simple action will help to clean the air of gas impurities, and therefore will prevent an explosion, fire

Cylinders should be installed no closer:

• half a meter from the gas stove;
• meter from any heater;
• if the heater is open, then the distance to the cylinder increases to 2 meters.

It is allowed to store cylinders on the street, but for this you need to use a metal cabinet with ventilation holes.

A gas bottle has traditionally been an increased source of danger. The reason is that even a normal drop or drop in temperature can cause problems.

Also, we must not forget that even if all the rules and recommendations are followed, gas cylinders will always be a source of danger. Therefore, if possible, they should be abandoned.

We recommend to see the detailed recommendations for the use of cylinders at home.

Safety measures for the operation of the chimney

This device should provide stable traction in all operating modes of gas appliances. But in difficult meteorological conditions, even a working smoke exhaust system can lose effectiveness.

And in some cases it even arises reverse thrust. Which sometimes causes fires.

A leak can only be identified by its characteristic odor. And it will turn out to detect the leak with the help of soap suds. But it’s better not to engage in independent searches, even when the leak is insignificant

Therefore, in heavy snowfalls, with fog, frost, during rain, especially careful monitoring of the presence of traction is required, and it is also necessary to monitor the combustion process.

In addition, to reduce the efficiency of smoke removal and increase the fire hazard can lead to:

• inefficiency of supply ventilation;
• tight closing of windows, doors, which disrupts air exchange;
• unauthorized connection of additional gas appliances, which increases the load on the chimney, which it may not cope with.

If signs of inefficient removal of combustion products are detected, it is necessary to inform representatives of gorgaz, another specialized organization.

As well as owners of gas equipment must ensure timely access to specialists to verify operability chimney.

General fire safety regulations

Consumers are required to stop using any appliances after signs of a malfunction have been identified. This is especially true for situations where a gas leak has been detected.

An important measure to prevent fire is the promptness and correctness of response when identifying a hazard. First of all, it is necessary to shut off the taps of gas appliances and open all windows. What in a few minutes will reduce the concentration of hazardous impurities in the room

It is forbidden to turn off safety automatics and regulation when using gas equipment.

And also it is impossible:

• block access to the taps of the gas riser or complicate it in any other way;
• use smoke exhaust systemsventilation after the expiration of the act of cleaning;
• arbitrarily change the layout of the gas equipment;
• prohibit Gorgaz employees from performing any work (some of them may be carried out at any time of the day);
• Allow preschool children to operate any gas appliance and children must not be left unattended in the room where the equipment is located;
• Store empty or full liquefied gas cylinders in the premises, basements.

Do not bend, twist rubber-woven sleeves. If damage to their outer layer is allowed, then the product should be replaced. Otherwise, after some time, a fuel leak will begin.

It is inappropriate to tie ropes to pipelines, as this leads to a breakdown in connections followed by a gas leak

It is forbidden to heat any premises with the help of gas stoves and other devices not intended for this purpose. Place flammable substances, liquids near them.

The norms and recommendations listed in the article are spelled out in the Fire Safety Standards Airbag 01-93, entered into force by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation of December 6, 1993 N 521.

Conclusions useful video on the topic

The first video will help you better understand how to detect a gas leak using improvised materials.

The next video will help you learn how to identify problems by the color of the gas flame.

Correct actions during the detection of a characteristic smell of gas in the room will help prevent a fire. And what exactly needs to be done is described in the next video.

Today, fire safety in the operation of any gas equipment is the destiny of every consumer. Since users are personally responsible for the good condition of their stoves, boilers, cylinders. And this must be treated responsibly. Otherwise, minor and major troubles are inevitable, and in severe cases, the complete or partial destruction of buildings, premises and even human casualties.

Do you want to supplement the above material with recommendations for the safe operation of a gas appliance? Or do you still have questions that were not addressed by us in this material? Write your comments, ask questions, participate in the discussion - the feedback form is located below.