Computers,Fire,Hazard,and,the, computer Computers as a Fire Hazard and the Benefits of Industrial Co
----------------------------------------------------------Permission is granted for the below article to forward,reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website,offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as longas no changes a Gone are those times when the companies and the organisations didn't need a hi-tech system to handle them. Owing to the considerable increase in the business sector and thus, an enormous increase in the complexity of the organisational struc
Computers are nowpart and parcel of every business and allow us to perform tasks in a fractionof the time than it would have done years before. However, there are downsidesand while most IT systems can seem innocuous, in certain environments they canbe a potential hazard. A spark isnormally the cause for most explosions, especially when electronic equipment isused in a volatile environment. Wherever a circuit is broken or near to anotherconductor, it causes a short and electric currents can arc through the air,igniting any nearby combustibles. At the end of2005, an electrical fault at one of the worlds leading computer researchcentres at the University of Southampton; started a fire that would lead to £50million-worth of damage. It took over a hundred firefighters ten hours to bringthe eventual blaze under control and whilst it was fortunate that there were nofatalities, 300 staff and research students found they had nowhere to work. TheUniversity have just reopened in a new £70 million building but other companiesare not as fortunate - nearly half of all businesses that are closed by a firenever reopen and a third of those that do so, still fail in the following threeyears. The law under EUsATEX directive does order companies to identify any potential hazardous areasinto zones and all computer equipment has to be able to operate safely in thoseenvironments. Although many of these areas are easily identifiable such aswhere liquid fuels, flammable gases and explosives are stored; explosions andfires can also occur under less obvious conditions, such as where there is alot of dust or particles suspended in the air. Even areas not deemed hazardouscan be at risk from malfunctioning computer equipment, particularly whenmachines are left unattended or switched on for long periods of time. Like thecomputer monitor at the newspaper office in Virginia, that was left onovernight and sparked. Whilst not in a particular hazardous area the amount ofnewspaper lying around provided enough fuel to completely gut the offices ofthe Carolina Coast and Virginian-Pilot newspapers destroying decades worth ofrecords. Of course therehave always been solutions to these problems, you can makes sure the area isswept clean every night but can you be sure a monitor hasnt been left on and apile of papers left nearby? Of course specially designed, intrinsically safecomputers are widely used in highly hazardous areas, but these are expensiveparticularly in areas where explosions are deemed unlikely and there is a needfor several machines. While it is certainly better to be safe than sorry thecost can be crippling, especially if you have to keep upgrading your IT. However,lower-priced alternatives to the conventional intrinsically safe and air-purgedcomputer systems exist and enables you to use existing PCs and monitors andprovides protection specifically in ATEX Workplace Directive Zone 2, or areaswhere explosions, although deemed unlikely, could briefly occur. This allowscompanies the freedom to keep using their conventional IT and replace andupgrade it as necessary - whilst still keeping the same enclosure. It alsoenables piece of mind for those machines that although not in specifichazardous areas are often left unattended.
Computers,Fire,Hazard,and,the,