Incident Report Subject: Recent incident of a 2kg CO2 extinguisher discharging violently Date of Email report: Tue 11/12/2012 Report Detail:
Please ensure your CO2 extinguishers are not of the type described in these product notices. The use of relief devices is being advised as a potential to prevent this type of incident occurring in the future and is being tabled at international standards committees for inclusion in future standards… If you have any comments or wish to add your views – please contact us. As chairman of the BSI portable fire equipment committee FSH/2, I and our committee became aware in March 2012 of the recent incident of a 2kg CO2 extinguisher discharging violently and causing injury to a member of the public in a Virgin bank in Norwich in February 2012. This is the second incident of a violent discharge of a CO2 extinguisher over 18 months in the UK, where in both cases the extinguisher was not being serviced or touched in any other way. In both instances and as we have now learned this follows a larger number of failures in Germany, the portable extinguishers involved were polished aluminum which are marketed under various trade names including, but not limited to, Total and Flamefast from Tyco and from CheckFire in Wales. It should be noted that subsequent to responses to a series of letters that I requested the BSI sent out, it is clear that the units involved all appear to be polished aluminum extinguishers and are not covered by the BS EN3 manufacturing standard and therefore there was not an implication for UK standards. We have also learned that in previous failures 18 months ago, this resulted in a recall of all the CO2 extinguishers with the brass valves stamped 231, if in continental Europe, and 234 for the equivalent valve used in the UK. It is also understood, but cannot be verified, that In Germany due to a number of failures since 2007 all similar CO2 extinguishers were withdrawn, while in Norway the government required that all CO2 cylinders with the valve stamp 231 or 234 was withdrawn from every public building. It appears that all the brass valves used in CO2 portable extinguisher manufacture come from 1 of 3 factories in China. Essentially it is believed that the failure could be the result of stress cracking in the valve, possibly linked with over torqueing and/or the threads had become progressively weakened by some form of material degradation such as, for example, stress corrosion cracking or dezincification, However none of this can be confirmed. Letters from Tyco and CheckFire both of which were included in the Industry News section in an FIA industry news letter Portable Fire Extinguishers Product Notices - Please click here to read a Safety Notice from CheckFire with regards to the Polished Aluminium Commander Range 2kg CO2 Extinguishers (Produce Code: COEX2P). A product update has also been released by Tyco regarding the Failure of CO2 Aluminium Cylinders manufactured by FLN – click here to read. Hope you can use the above to the benefit of JOIFF members All the best.
Additional Documentation: IMPORTANT; Factual Error JOIFF shared Learning ( Recent incident of a 2kg CO2 extinguisher discharging violently ) Dear JOIFF members it has come to my attention that there are factual inaccuracies relating to the ‘shared learning’ e-mail relating to 2kg CO2 extinguishers discharge. To that effect JOIFF unreservedly apologise to TYCO for this inaccuracy and would seek our membership to have the correct facts relating to this important issue. Below you will find an e-mail from Anthony Gryscavage (TYCO) who provides text which reflects their company position on the matter. I include the e-mail in full so that you have all the information and the justification for their concern. Where you have cascaded this information internally – could I ask you to also cascade this JOIFF retraction of these inaccuracies. It is always JOIFF’s goal to provide accurate reporting, however, from time to time errors occur. However, when they do occur we act quickly to repair the position. If JOIFF members want further information on this subject I have included Anthony’s contact details Kevin I understand that Paul Janusz has discussed the fact that I would be writing to you. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am the global Director for the Portables product line here at Tyco. I work in our corporate headquarters in Lansdale, PA and my role is to manage the Portable Fire Extinguisher product line on behalf of Tyco Fire Protection Products. Earlier today, Paul brought your note below to my attention and asked that I review to ensure this was consistent with Tyco’s understanding of the situation. After reviewing your comments, we believe we have identified two errors in your statement which we would like corrected. This is a critical matter for Tyco as it has the potential to significant harm our brand in the marketplace so your prompt attention would be appreciated. Please see our summary below: Your statement: In both instances and as we have now learned this follows a larger number of failures in Germany, the portable extinguishers involved were polished aluminum which are marketed under various trade names including, but not limited to, Total and Flamefast from Tyco and from CheckFire in Wales. Tyco Position: This statement is incorrect. The portable CO2 extinguishers produced by Tyco in Germany under the labels Total and Flamefast were not polished aluminum. They were painted Aluminum shells. The polished aluminum extinguisher was a completely different manufacturer and was unrelated to Tyco. Your statement: It should be noted that subsequent to responses to a series of letters that I requested the BSI sent out, it is clear that the units involved all appear to be polished aluminum extinguishers and arenot covered by the BS EN3 manufacturing standard and therefore there was not an implication for UK standards. Tyco Position: This statement is not correct. While it is true that Tyco did have CO2 units which failed, all units manufactured in Germany and sold in the European marketplace are covered the BS EN3 manufacturing standard. In fact, those sold in the UK market are EN3 Kitemarked as well. As a result of these two errors, we would respectfully request a retraction of your statement and preparation of a new statement with these errors corrected. While Tyco did have an issue with CO2 extinguishers in the past, we have thoroughly studied the root cause of the issue and have addressed the problem which did include a complete recall of the affected units. Our position is that we want to ensure there is no confusion in the market about these recent unfortunate failures and any connection with Tyco manufactured products. Thank you very much for your prompt attention to this matter. Sincerely, Anthony Gryscavage | Director – Portables and Agents |Tyco Fire Protection Products 1400 Pennbrook Parkway, Lansdale, PA 19446, United States Tel: 1-215-362-0700 x51471 l Cell 1-215-439-0317 l Fax: +1-215-362-5385 l E-mail: [email protected]
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