July 17, 2021 - securitylinkindia

International

NIST Will Conduct Technical Investigation Into the Collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condominium

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJuly 17, 2021November 14, 2024010 mins

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently announced that it would launch a full technical investigation into what caused the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condominium in Surfside, Florida, on June 24, 2021. “This is an unspeakable tragedy, and like all NIST investigations, we will conduct a fact-finding study to prevent tragedies like this in the future,” said James Olthoff, who is currently performing the duties of the Undersecretary of Commerce for standards and technology and NIST Director, “We intend to undertake a thorough technical investigation into what caused the collapse, to ultimately make recommendations that would make our buildings safer and keep something like this from happening again. This effort will take time, but we will work on this as long as necessary.” The NIST investigation will not interfere with the ongoing search-and-rescue operations. NIST has been working with other government officials at the scene of the collapse, and the agency will continue to cooperate with all ongoing local, state and federal investigations. NIST investigators will only enter the actual site of the collapse after it is deemed safe for them to do so. On June 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced it would launch a full technical investigation into what caused the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condominium in Surfside, Florida, on June 24. There are millions of high-rise condominium units in Florida alone, many of them near the ocean or aging. While a NIST investigation is intended to identify the cause of the Champlain Towers South collapse, it could also uncover potential issues for other similar buildings nearby and throughout the nation. Passed by Congress in 2002, the National Construction Safety Teams (NCST) Act authorizes the NIST director to deploy expert teams after the failure of a building that resulted in substantial loss of life or posed significant potential for doing so. These investigations ultimately aim to improve the safety and structural integrity of buildings in the United States. Leading up to this decision, a preliminary NIST team spent several days in Surfside, Florida, to determine if the event met the criteria for a full investigation under the NCST Act. The team found that the collapse met necessary criteria to invoke the act. It was a major building failure at significantly less than its design basis, during construction, or while in active use. In addition, NIST determined that a fact-finding investigation of the building performance and emergency response and evacuation procedures will likely result in significant and new knowledge or building code revision recommendations needed to reduce or mitigate public risk and economic losses from future building failures. The NIST team will: establish the likely technical cause or causes of the building failure; recommend, as necessary, specific improvements to building standards, codes and practices; and recommend any research and other appropriate actions needed to improve the structural safety of buildings. NIST does not publish or set standards and does not have a regulatory role in building or construction. The team will include NIST staff members and non-NIST experts. Team members will collect and study information and material from the collapse to understand how the building was designed, constructed, modified and maintained. They also will examine samples of the building materials and the local soil conditions and any other potential contributing factors. The effort does not have a set timeline and is expected to take years to complete. The team will provide regular updates on its progress to the National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee at its regular meetings, which are open to the public. NIST encourages the public to submit any information, including video or photos, that might help the investigation via a data portal that the agency has set up. Why NIST? NIST is a federal research laboratory with extensive expertise in engineering and many other technical areas. NIST staff members work with experts in industry, academia and government to support the development of model building codes. The National Construction Safety Teams (NCST) Act of 2002 authorizes NIST to conduct technical investigations of building failures, issue reports and make recommendations to improve building codes and standards. The NCST Act provides NIST the ability to collect and preserve evidence from the site of a failure and/ or disaster, issue subpoenas and hold hearings. NIST’s investigative authorities are secondary to criminal or terrorist investigations. NIST was established in 1901, and one of its first contributions to disaster resilience happened after the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, when much of the city was destroyed. NIST’s work helped usher in code improvements that were designed to ensure that fire hoses had compatible couplings with all hydrants, so that firefighters from different companies could work together more easily to extinguish large fires. Since then, NIST has investigated many failures and disasters, including the World Trade Center collapses and Pentagon attack on 9/11, as well as many hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes around the world. Most recently, NIST has sent preliminary teams to the Gulf area in 2017 for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria; to Paradise, California, after the 2018 Camp Fire, which led to an ongoing study; and now to Surfside, Florida, for the Champlain Towers South Condominium collapse. This will be the fifth investigation NIST has conducted using the NCST Act authorities. The prior four were – the World Trade Center disaster, with final reports published in 2005 (WTC 1 and 2) and 2008 (WTC 7); the 2003 Station nightclub fire, with a final report published in 2005; the 2011 Joplin tornado investigation, with a report published in 2014; and the Hurricane Maria investigation, which is ongoing (see the recently published interim report). The completed investigations have led to changes in building codes, standards, engineering practices, emergency response and emergency communications standards and practices. NIST promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.

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Catching Waste Fires before They Happen

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJuly 17, 2021November 14, 202408 mins

Waste fires – in other words fires that occur in the waste dumping facility or recycling plants – is a very serious global issue. Countries all over the world are suffering from more than one fire per day in the waste and recycling industry. This causes risk of injury to employees, damage to sites and machinery, and damage to reputation. And that’s even before you consider the potential environmental impact. There’s more irony here too – one of the biggest risks for fire at a waste dumping facility is damaged lithium-ion batteries. These batteries are rechargeable and thus designed to be more sustainable! What causes waste fires? As the human race creates more and more waste, recycling has become crucial in the fight for sustainability. Numerous recycling plants are built to deal with all kinds of materials, turning them into something useable again. Many of these materials are combustible – paper and cardboard, for example. The materials are also compressed together in order to save space. A dry, hot spell of weather can also add a rise in heat within this pile. All these conditions combine to make a potentially combustible situation – all that is needed is a spark. This is an example of what’s known in the industry as ‘scalding.’ Heat can build up unchecked in places that cannot be seen or monitored in traditional ways, in the middle of a waste pile, for example. There’s also no smoke to be seen here, since it’s shielded by outer layers of the waste. Danger can come from various places – but increasingly the culprit is rechargeable batteries. In fact, according to a recent WEEE report1 , most severe fires caused by batteries in the last four years caused damage costing an average of €1.3 million. The lithium-ion technology in these batteries works by using different chemicals in separate cells. The ‘walls’ of these cells are quite thin, to make the battery lightweight. When damaged, these can be punctured, or short-circuited combining the separated elements and causing either a build-up of heat, leading to a fire, or even an explosion. Tackling waste fires Traditional methods of tackling the problem are based on reacting quickly to a waste fire once it breaks out. Fire alarms and sprinkler systems are used, and a ‘hotline’ to the local fire services could be prudent. Sites also use sirens and lights to warn people of the danger. However, these measures all come into effect once a fire has started. Technology can now be used to tackle the issue before it happens. In other words, to detect the build-up of heat before the spark has ignited the fire. It succeeds in managing the risks of harm to employees or visitors to the site. It’s also good for the budget – reducing the costs and work to repair any fire damage. Enter Hikvision Thermal cameras are used to monitor temperatures both inside and outside of a plant. These cameras can be configured to raise an alarm when a predefined temperature is monitored, and then again when a higher one is reached. The first temperature limit is for a ‘pre-alarm,’ which will have the camera send a signal once the temperature is higher than normal. The second limit should be configured at a critical temperature, so that it’s clear that immediate action is necessary once it’s heard. Both alarms can be verified by employees monitoring the situation, both on and off-site, using a bi-spectrum camera. This provides live images alongside the thermal ones, giving more context to the issue. Then, armed with verified situational information, appropriate persons can take action to prevent, or put out, any waste fires. This could be one of the employees present on the site, or via a remote monitoring service. Using HikCentral video management software, images can also be sent to managers remotely. They are able to see what’s happening via tablet or mobile, wherever they are. The solution uses smart algorithms to ensure that hot spots caused by sunlight, or cars moving through the site, do not cause false alarms. It can also be seamlessly connected to other fire repressing systems, like sprinklers or automated fire doors. The world of sustainability moves on. In a world where a battery designed to be sustainable can actually cause problems when recycled, looking at the complete picture seems crucial. As is the ability to tackle problems before they happen. Using technology, recycling plants can identify potential fires before they happen. So even if the materials going through a waste site are potential fire risks, these can be effectively managed. It’s a classic example of prevention being better than cure – more relevant than ever to waste fires.