When an employer provides fire extinguishers for employees to use, OSHA expects those employees to know how and when to use them, every year. And when a standard requires an emergency action plan, everyone covered must know how to report a fire and get out. This quiz reviews both, with the paragraph each answer comes from.
Annual fire extinguisher training
Where portable extinguishers are provided for employee use, the employer gives an educational program on the general principles of extinguisher use and the hazards of incipient stage fire fighting, upon initial employment and at least annually (29 CFR 1910.157(g)). Employees designated in an emergency action plan to use fire fighting equipment are trained on that equipment at first assignment and at least annually.
An incipient stage fire is one in its beginning stage that portable extinguishers or small hoses can control without protective clothing or breathing apparatus (29 CFR 1910.155(c)). Fire classes: A for ordinary combustibles, B for flammable liquids, gases and greases, C for energized electrical equipment, D for combustible metals.
Placement, inspection and maintenance
- Extinguishers are mounted, located and identified so they are readily accessible, and kept fully charged in their places (1910.157(c)).
- Travel distance: 75 feet or less for Class A, 50 feet or less from a Class B hazard area (1910.157(d)(2), (d)(4)).
- Monthly visual inspection and an annual maintenance check, with the date recorded (1910.157(e)(2)–(3)), and equivalent protection while an extinguisher is out of service (e)(5).
An employer whose written fire safety policy requires immediate and total evacuation at the alarm, with an emergency action plan and a fire prevention plan, and with no extinguishers in the workplace, may be exempt from 1910.157 (1910.157(b)(1)).
Emergency action plans
An emergency action plan is required whenever an OSHA standard calls for one (29 CFR 1910.38). It is written and available to employees, though employers with 10 or fewer employees may communicate it orally. At a minimum it covers reporting a fire or emergency, evacuation and exit routes, employees who stay to run critical operations, accounting for everyone after evacuation, rescue and medical duties, and who to contact. The alarm uses a distinctive signal for each purpose; employees are designated and trained to help evacuate others; and the plan is reviewed with each employee at first assignment and whenever their role or the plan changes.
Using the quiz
Play it as the classroom part of the yearly session, then walk to the nearest extinguisher and exit route. For general fire safety without US rules, see the fire safety quiz. Quizhat is an independent tool, not affiliated with or endorsed by OSHA.