ASTM_E_2280_-_13.pdf

Designation:E228013An American National StandardStandard Guide forFire Hazard Assessment of the Effect of UpholsteredSeating Furniture Within Patient Rooms of Health CareFacilities1This standard is issued under the fixed designation E2280;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon()indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.INTRODUCTIONThe traditional approach to codes and standards is the specification of individual fire-test-responserequirements for each material,component or product placed in a certain environment and deemedimportant to ensure fire safety.This practice has been in place for so long that it gives a significantlevel of comfort:a manufacturers knows what is required to comply with the specifications andspecifiers apply the requirements.Implicit assumptions,not stated,are that the use of the prescribedrequirements ensures an adequate level of safety.There is no need to impose any change on thosemanufacturers who supply safe systems meeting existing prescriptive requirements.However,as newmaterials and products are developed,manufacturers,designers,and specifiers often desire theflexibility to choose how the overall safety requirements are to be met.Thus,it is the responsibilityof the developer of an alternative approach to state explicitly the assumptions being made to producethe output.The way to generate explicit and valid assumptions is to provide a performance-basedapproach,based on test methods providing data in engineering units,suitable for use in fire safetyengineering calculations,as this guide provides.The resulting fire hazard assessment focuses onupholstered seating furniture items within patient rooms in health care occupancies.This requiresdeveloping the fire scenarios to be considered and the effect of all contents and design considerationswithin the patient room which are potentially able to affect the resulting fire hazard.This offersopportunities for innovation,and ingenuity,without compromising safety.1.Scope1.1 This is a guide to developing fire hazard assessments forupholstered seating furniture,within patient rooms of healthcare occupancies.As such,it provides methods and contem-porary fire safety engineering techniques to develop a firehazard assessment for use in specifications for upholsteredseating furniture in such occupancies.1.2 Hazard assessment is an estimation of the potentialseverity of the fires that can develop with certain products indefined scenarios,once the incidents have occurred.Hazardassessment does not address the likelihood of a fire occurring,but is based on the premise that an ignition has occurred.1.3 Because it is a guide,this document cannot be used forregulation,nor does it give definitive instructions on how toconduct a fire hazard assessment.1.4 This guide is intended to provide assistance to thoseinterested in mitigating the potential damage from fires asso-ciated with upholstered furniture in patient rooms in health careoccupancies.1.5 Thus,this guide can be used to help assess the firehazard of materials,assemblies,or systems intended for use inupholstered furniture,by providing a standard basis for study-ing the level of fire safety associated with certain designchoices.It can also aid those interested in designing featuresappropriate to health care occupancies.Finally,it may beuseful to safety personnel in health care occupancies.1.6 This guide is a focused application of Guide E1546,which offers help in reference to fire scenarios that are specificto upholstered furniture in health care occupancies,and in-cludes an extensive bibliography.It differs from Guide E15461This guide is under the jurisdiction ofASTM Committee E05 on Fire Standardsand is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E05.33 on Fire Safety Engineering.Current edition approved Oct.1,2013.Published October 2013.Originallyapproved in 2003.Last previous edition approved in 2009 as E2280-09 DOI:10.1520/E2280-13.Copyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959.United States1 in that it offers guidance that is specific to the issue ofupholstered furniture in patient rooms of health care facilities,rather than general guidance.Appendix X11 includes somestatistics on the magnitude of the potential problem in the U.S.1.7 A fire hazard assessment conducted in accordance withthis guide is strongly dependent on the limitations in the factorsdescribed in 1.7.1 1.7.4.1.7.1 Input data(including their precision or accuracy).1.7.2 Appropriate test procedures.1.7.3 Fire models or calculation procedures that are simul-taneously relevant,accurate and appropriate.1.7.4 Advancement of scientific knowledge.1.8 This guide addresses specific fire scenarios which begininside or outside of the patient room.However,the upholsteredfurniture under c