Labels on FM-approved hot-work safety products.

Winnebago Industries (www.winnebagoind.com) wanted to minimize the risk posed by gasoline in its hotwork area. When one of its chassis suppliers replaced temporary plastic gas tanks, used when transporting chassis to Winnebago, with permanent fuel tanks, the motor home manufacturer began investigating options that would let it perform welding work around the permanent fuel tanks with reduced risk of fire or explosion.

Each chassis that Winnebago receives from a supplier must undergo added modifications in the preparation area before workers can build a motor home on it, says Dick Frank, Winnebago's plant engineer.

Winnebago considered its options with guidance from FM Global, a commercial property insurer and a provider of third-party certification of property loss prevention products and services. Instead of removing the permanent tanks and reinstalling them after the modifications were completed, Winnebago opted first to remove as much gasoline from the tanks as possible, then flush them with nitrogen to displace any residual vapors.

As an added safety precaution, Winnebago elected to cover the inerted tanks with an FM-approved hot-work safety fabric produced by Auburn Manufacturing Inc. (www.auburnmfg.com). The AS3600-36 blanket satisfies FM Standard 4950, which includes welding pads, blankets and curtains for hot-work operations."FM-approval assured us that the material had gone through stringent testing and would suit our application," said Frank.

To receive FM approval, manufacturers must submit to an audit of their manufacturing operations, and their products must pass a battery of tests that simulate the extreme conditions of real-world, hot-work applications, according to Kathie Leonard, president and chief executive of Auburn Manufacturing.

In addition to fire protection, the blankets, which are cut from 50-yard rolls, help keep components free of damage from weld slag, notes John Faircloth, Winnebago's advanced manufacturing engineer.

Winnebago Industries is in a state of continuous evaluation for fire safety. "Evaluations take place whenever a new project is planned, while standing hot work areas are audited on a regular basis to determine compliance with the conditions and practices required in the permit, as required by FM Data Sheet 10-3, Hot Work Management,"said Pete Visser, Winnebago's safety manager.