NFPA Journal - Summer 2021 - 18

Dispatches

Breaking news covered on the new NFPA Journal homepage, nfpa.org/journal, has
included a dust explosion at a factory in Singapore in March that killed three people.

N F P A . O R G /J O U R N A L

DIGITAL
FOCUS

NFPA JOURNAL ONLINE
COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTED BY
STORIES ON A DEADLY DUST
EXPLOSION AND MOVIE-SET
SAFETY LEGISLATION
By Angelo Verzoni
FPA Journal has updated
and improved its online
coverage, and its ability to cover breaking
news brings a new level
of value to NFPA members and to
readers throughout the global safety
community.
Since its launch in February, the
new NFPA Journal homepage, nfpa.
org/journal, has featured a range of
stories, including breaking news from
around the world. In late February,
for example, three workers were killed
and several others were injured when
combustible potato starch powder
exploded at a food processing plant in
Singapore. In response, NFPA Journal
interviewed NFPA hazardous chemicals engineer Alexander Ing about
combustible dusts and how fires and
explosions involving these materials
can be prevented.

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" There are many different industries
and many different processes around
the world that can experience these dust
fire or explosion hazards, " Ing told the
magazine. " So the issue isn't necessarily
confined to a developing region or country versus a developed country. All of
these countries or all these regions can
experience a dust fire or explosion if the
hazard is not properly managed. "
The Q&A article featuring Ing was
one of two web-exclusive articles to run
on the magazine's new online homepage in the spring. The other covered
legislation passed in New York City to
bolster fire safety on movie and television production sets-a direct result of a
2018 movie-set fire that killed a veteran
FDNY firefighter. Both stories represent
a shift in the magazine's reporting to a
more responsive, digitally driven model.
" These changes mark an exciting
point in the evolution of NFPA Journal
and represent an important part of
NFPA's growing international influence, " said Scott Sutherland, executive
editor of the magazine. " Our new and
expanded web identity, combined with
our new quarterly print schedule, will
help us reach more audiences around
the world with a wider variety of stories
on emerging fire and life safety issues. "
Both the dust explosion and NYC
legislation stories can be read online
at nfpa.org/dustdisaster and nfpa.org/
safersets, respectively. Online content
is updated regularly, so be sure to catch
the latest fire and life safety news by
visiting nfpa.org/journal.

SINGAPORE CIVIL DEFENCE

smoke management infrastructure
leads to the spread of smoke and, ultimately, deaths.
Like Khadse, Jim Pauley, NFPA
president and CEO, believes the use of
current codes and standards can go a
long way toward addressing the fire,
electrical, and other life safety hazards that exist in hospitals worldwide.
" Safety is a system that should be taken
very seriously, especially in hospitals,
where many occupants will be unable
to evacuate on their own or without
assistive equipment, " Pauley recently
told FSAI Journal, the magazine of the
Fire & Security Association of India.
" Standards that pertain to health care
facilities can be a tremendous resource
around the globe. "
Overall, a review of media reports
conducted by NFPA Journal shows
that at least 170 people have died in
hospital fires since the COVID-19 pandemic began in the spring of 2020.
Oxygen-rich environments are just one
of many factors that have led to poor
outcomes in these incidents, which
have occurred worldwide, from India
to Russia to Brazil. No incidents have
been reported in the United States,
however.
Jamie Gutierrez, NFPA's international development director for Latin
America, shed light on this in a blog
he wrote in February, in response to
a string of COVID-19 hospital fires in
Latin America.
" Each of these events shares a
common thread-ignorance or dismissal of danger signs, panic reactions,
or stampede tendencies, " Gutierrez
wrote, adding that the incidents also
showed poor use of flammable or oxidizing materials, deficiencies in the
communities' regulatory framework, a
lack of security measures, and a lack of
emergency preparedness training. " All
of these safety components and a few
others need to be addressed if we are
going to reduce risk, " he said.
In the months preceding the coronavirus pandemic, NFPA Journal covered
the international hospital fire problem
in " Burn Treatment " (January/February
2020). Read the story at nfpa.org/burntreatment.

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NFPA Journal - Summer 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - Summer 2021
