How to Use a Fire Extinguisher, and the Staff Training OSHA Expects

To use a fire extinguisher, remember PASS. Pull the pin, Aim the nozzle at the base of the fire, Squeeze the handle, and Sweep from side to side until the fire is out, standing at the distance printed on the label with a clear exit behind you. OSHA expects every employer that provides extinguishers for staff to teach this when people are hired and at least once a year after that. Boss Fire Protection inspects and services commercial fire extinguishers for businesses across Dallas-Fort Worth, and the training starts with knowing the units on your own walls.

The PASS Method, Step by Step

1. Pull the pin. Twist it to break the plastic tamper seal and pull it straight out. The handle will not move until the pin is gone.
2. Aim at the base of the fire. Point the nozzle or hose low, at the fuel that is burning. Spraying the flames above it uses up the agent and leaves the fire alive.
3. Squeeze the handle slowly and steadily. Most portable extinguishers empty in well under half a minute, so there is no time to waste and no second try.
4. Sweep from side to side across the base until the fire looks out, then watch it. If it relights, sweep again. If the extinguisher runs out and the fire is still burning, leave.

Start at the distance the label gives for that unit and move in only as the fire shrinks. Carbon dioxide units need the user to hold the handle, never the horn, which gets cold enough to injure bare skin.

When Should You Not Use a Fire Extinguisher?

A portable extinguisher is for the first minute of a small fire. Using the wrong class can make things worse, the way water spreads burning oil or a stream without a C rating can carry electricity. The classes themselves come from NFPA 10, the Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers, and which class fits which fuel is set out in our guide to fire extinguisher classes, types and uses.

What Training Does OSHA Require for Fire Extinguishers?

The rule is 29 CFR 1910.157, paragraph (g). It does not demand a live fire for every employee, but staff who are expected to use an extinguisher learn far more from discharging one once than from a video. The one way out of the training requirement is not to have extinguishers for staff at all, with a written policy that everyone evacuates the moment the alarm sounds. Few businesses with a kitchen, a warehouse or a workshop can choose that.

How to Run Extinguisher Training Your Staff Will Remember

• Walk the building first. Show each person where the extinguishers on their own floor or station are, and which class each one is.
• Teach the decision before the method. The most useful thing anyone learns is when to leave instead of fighting.
• Let people discharge one where it can be done safely, at a practice fire or with a training unit. A first squeeze surprises everyone.
• Write it down. Keep the date, the names and what was covered, because a record is what shows the training happened.
• Add the kitchen steps for anyone who works a cook line, where the pull station comes before the Class K extinguisher, as set out in how to put out a grease fire in a commercial kitchen.

After an Extinguisher Has Been Used

Any extinguisher that has been discharged, even for a second, goes out of service until it is recharged or replaced. A partly used unit can lose its remaining pressure, and a gauge in the green the morning after is not proof it will work next time. Tell whoever services your extinguishers the same day and put a charged spare in its place.

How Boss Fire Supports Training in Dallas-Fort Worth

Boss Fire Protection inspects, tags, recharges and replaces commercial fire extinguishers, and at each annual inspection our technician can show your staff where every unit is, which fire it is rated for and how it is used. That walk-through is a good moment to start the yearly education OSHA expects.

Sources: OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.157, Portable Fire Extinguishers, paragraphs (b) and (g). NFPA 10, Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers (National Fire Protection Association).