The Chemical Hazards and Poisons Division (CHaPD) is frequently required to advise on the health effects arising from incidents due to fires. This chapter, adapted from a review prepared for the Health Protection Agency, considers the toxicity of combustion products from a range of different fire types. Following smoke inhalation, toxicity may result either from thermal injury, or from the toxic effects of substances present. This review considers only the latter, and aims to identify generalisations that may be made regarding the toxicity of common products present in fire smoke, with respect to the combustion conditions (temperature, oxygen availability, etc.), focusing largely on the adverse health effects to humans following acute exposure to these chemicals in smoke. The prediction of toxic combustion products is a complex area and there is the potential for the generation of a huge range of pyrolysis products depending on the nature of the fire and the conditions of burning. Although each fire will have individual characteristics and will ultimately need to be considered on a case by case basis, there are commonalities, particularly with regard to the most important components relating to toxicity. The chapter provides a brief overview of the topics and issues described more fully in the individual book chapters on specific subjects, which are referenced as appropriate.
The built environment is increasingly shifting towards smart and sustainable cities. This transformation is accompanied by the implementation of new digital and smart technologies, and their supporting infrastructure. This advancement poses new challenges to the process of operating the built environment and in particular, to the management of new risks associated with use and operation of a more complex built environment. There is still a dearth of studies proposing new ways to cope with risks from the increased sophistication in the built environment. This paper analyses the ability of an emerging technology and process for site access verification. The aim is to improve control measures in respect of the operational risk profile. HyDeploy, a UK based sustainable built environment gas decarbonisation pilot project, is used as a study case. HyDeploy is a project aiming to demonstrate that using hydrogen blended gas for heating and cooking is just as safe and convenient as the gas used currently in the UK. The paper presents the current process for site access verification used in the project, before investigating the potential benefits of the application of an emerging technology for site access procedure. The paper concludes that the emerging procedure has the potential to improve both the compliance position of site owners, and the overall operator safety on site.
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