NOM-002-STPS: ordinary or high fire risk, and what each one requires

NOM-002-STPS-2010, Safety conditions – Fire prevention and protection in workplaces, sets the requirements for preventing fires and protecting workers if one breaks out. Mexico's labor ministry (STPS) published it in the Official Gazette (DOF) on December 9, 2010; it took effect six months later, replaced NOM-002-STPS-2000 and applies to every workplace in Mexico.

Its starting point is the fire-risk classification: almost every obligation changes depending on whether the workplace, or each of its areas, is ordinary or high risk.

Classification uses Table A.1 in Appendix A, looking at the built area and the maximum inventory recorded in a year for each type of material:

With several materials, checking each row on its own isn't enough: the standard adds up each inventory as a share of its threshold (A.1.3). If (flammable gases ÷ 3,000 L) + (flammable liquids ÷ 1,400 L) + (combustible liquids ÷ 2,000 L) + (combustible solids ÷ 15,000 kg) comes to 1 or more, the risk is high. For office furniture you may assume an average of 60 kg per worker.

Many industrial buildings exceed 3,000 m² of built area, which on its own makes their risk high (A.1.4). Classification may be done by area when areas are separated by fire-resistant construction or by enough distance to prevent rapid spread; it must be redone when maximum inventories change, and it is documented in writing with the area, inventories, calculation and the name of the person responsible (A.1.2, A.1.6 and A.2).

• Classify the fire risk, as a whole or by area (5.1).
• Post an up-to-date sketch or plan showing risk areas, detection devices, firefighting equipment, evacuation routes, exits and safe places (5.2).
• Have safety instructions for each area, including hot work, and share them with workers, contractors and visitors (5.3 and 7.1).
• Have a fire emergency response plan (5.5 and chapter 8).
• Run fire emergency drills at least once a year (5.7).
• Train workers under a yearly theory-and-practice program (5.8).
• Have detection devices and firefighting equipment suited to the classes of fire that may occur (5.10).
• Follow yearly inspection programs for firefighting equipment, electrical installations and, where present, gas installations, with recorded results (7.4 to 7.7).

• Fire brigades, trained and with their personal protective equipment (5.6 and 5.9).
• Two drills a year, at a minimum (5.7).
• Fixed fire-protection systems and fire alarms, in addition to detection devices and extinguishers (5.10).
• More extinguishers: one per 200 m² instead of one per 300 m² (7.17).
• An extended emergency plan that includes drill results and the most serious foreseeable accidents (8.2).
• A document proving compliance: an STPS verification record under the Occupational Safety and Health Self-Management Program, a compliance opinion from an accredited and approved verification unit, or a record from the local civil-protection authority (5.11).

They are mounted no higher than 1.50 m from the floor to their top, protected from damage, signposted and unobstructed. With automatic suppression systems the required number may be cut by up to half, provided each extinguisher holds at least 6 kg or 9 L (7.17).

Inspection is monthly, under a yearly program with recorded results: location, access, seal or tamper tag, pressure in the green zone, damage and a current label (7.2 and 7.3). Servicing happens at least once a year, guaranteed under NOM-154-SCFI, and an extinguisher taken away for service is replaced in the same spot by one of at least the same type and capacity (7.18).

Drills may cover individual areas or the whole workplace (10.1). Their planning must be in writing, with the people coordinating them, the date and time, the scope, the most critical emergency scenarios, the sequence of actions and, where applicable, the participation of local emergency services (10.2).

Their results are recorded with the workplace and areas involved, the number of participants, the resources used, the deviations detected, recommendations for updating the emergency plan, the duration and the coordinators' names (10.3).

Mexico's Federal Labor Law sets fines of 250 to 5,000 times the UMA (Mexico's daily reference unit) for employers who don't follow safety and hygiene standards in their facilities (article 994, section V). Beyond the fine, the standard exists so that a small fire doesn't end in injuries or a plant shutdown.

We classify your plant's fire risk, check your program against the standard's requirements, organize your extinguisher, drill and training records and leave the evidence ready for the inspection, at plants in Tijuana, Mexicali, Ensenada and Tecate. See our fire protection service or request an assessment.