Fire prevention and protection engineer

Fire prevention and protection engineers study, design, and developed innovative solutions aimed to the prevention of fire and the protection of people, natural sites, and urban areas. They propose suitable materials for construction, clothing, or other applications and they design detection systems aiming to prevent fire or the propagation of it.

The following job titles also refer to fire prevention and protection engineer:

fire protection engineer
fire prevention and protection engineering adviser
fire protection and prevention engineer
fire prevention engineer
fire prevention and protection technology engineering adviser
fire prevention and protection technology engineering specialist
fire prevention and protection engineering specialist
fire prevention and protection engineering expert
fire prevention and protection technology engineering expert
fire prevention and protection technology engineer
fire prevention and protection technology engineering consultant
fire prevention and protection engineering consultant

Bachelor’s degree is generally required to work as fire prevention and protection engineer. However, this requirement may differ in some countries.

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

• the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
• the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
• the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Fire prevention and protection engineer is a Skill level 4 occupation.

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to fire prevention and protection engineer.

health and safety engineer
surface engineer
acoustical engineer
heating, ventilation, air conditioning engineer
environmental mining engineer

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of fire prevention and protection engineer. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of fire prevention and protection engineer with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of fire prevention and protection engineer.

Engineering principles: The engineering elements like functionality, replicability, and costs in relation to the design and how they are applied in the completion of engineering projects.
Technical drawings: Drawing software and the various symbols, perspectives, units of measurement, notation systems, visual styles and page layouts used in technical drawings.
Fire safety regulations: The legal rules to be applied for fire safety and fire prevention in a facility.
Fire protection engineering: Application of engineering principles for the design and production of fire detection, prevention and suppression systems that range from the conception of fire alarms to space planning and building design.
Environmental legislation: The environmental policies and legislation applicable in a certain domain.
Engineering processes: The systematic approach to the development and maintenance of engineering systems.
Fire prevention procedures: The regulations concerning fire and explosion prevention, and the equipment, systems and methods used in it.
Safety engineering: The engineering discipline used to ensure that systems, machines and equipment work according to the set safety standards and laws, such as environmental law.
Fire-fighting systems: The devices and systems used to extinguish fires; the classes and chemistry of fire.

These skills are necessary for the role of fire prevention and protection engineer.

Adjust engineering designs: Adjust designs of products or parts of products so that they meet requirements.
Perform scientific research: Gain, correct or improve knowledge about phenomena by using scientific methods and techniques, based on empirical or measurable observations.
Conduct fire tests: Conduct tests on a variety of materials such as building or transportation materials in order to determine their physical properties against fire such as flame resistance, surface burning characteristics, oxygen concentration or smoke generation.
Approve engineering design: Give consent to the finished engineering design to go over to the actual manufacturing and assembly of the product.

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of fire prevention and protection engineer. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Materials science: Field of science and engineering that researches new materials on the basis of their structure, properties, synthesis, and performance for a variety of purposes, including increasing fire resistance of construction materials.
Textile materials: Have a good understanding of the properties of different textile materials.
Design principles: The elements used in design such as unity, scale, proportion, balance, symmetry, space, form, texture, colour, light, shade and congruence and their application into practice.
Physics: The natural science involving the study of matter, motion, energy, force and related notions.
Civil engineering: The engineering discipline that studies the design, construction and maintenance of naturally built works such as roads, buildings, and canals.
Thermodynamics: The branch of physics that deals with the relationships between heat and other forms of energy..
Chemistry: The composition, structure, and properties of substances and the processes and transformations that they undergo; the uses of different chemicals and their interactions, production techniques, risk factors, and disposal methods.

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of fire prevention and protection engineer. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Act as contact person during equipment incident: Act as the person to be contacted when an equipment incident occurs. Participate in the investigation by providing insights.
Advise on construction materials: Provide advice on and test a wide range of construction materials.
Perform laboratory tests: Carry out tests in a laboratory to produce reliable and precise data to support scientific research and product testing.
Determine fire risks: Evaluate buildings, housing complexes, public places, and sites in order to discover fire risks.
Record test data: Record data which has been identified specifically during preceding tests in order to verify that outputs of the test produce specific results or to review the reaction of the subject under exceptional or unusual input.
Advise on safety improvements: Provide relevant recommendations following the conclusion of an investigation; ensure that recommendations are duly considered and where appropriate acted upon.
Conduct fire safety inspections: Conduct inspections in buildings and on sites to assess their fire prevention and safety equipment, evacuation strategies, and related strategies, and ensure compliance with safety regulations.
Develop material testing procedures: Develop testing protocols in collaboration with engineers and scientists to enable a variety of analyses such as environmental, chemical, physical, thermal, structural, resistance or surface analyses on a wide range of materials such as metals, ceramics or plastics.
Draft design specifications: List the design specifications such as materials and parts to be used and a cost estimate.
Test safety strategies: Test policies and strategies related to risk and safety management and procedures, such as testing evacuation plans, safety equipment, and carrying out drills.
Advise architects: Give advice on design, safety issues, and cost reduction to architects during the pre-application phase.
Educate public on fire safety: Develop and execute educational and promotional plans to educate the public on fire prevention knowledge and methods, fire safety such as the ability to identify hazards and the use of fire safety equipment, and to raise awareness on fire prevention issues.

2149 – Engineering professionals not elsewhere classified

 

 

---

 

 

References

1. Fire prevention and protection engineer – ESCO