Long Beach, California, resident Jeff Davis has been working in the petrochemical industry since 1994. As a safety officer and educational instructor, Jeff Davis recently ran industrial safety training programs for Beacon Energy Services, located near Long Beach.

Although strong and rigid, stainless steel cannot always withstand the effects of fire. In the petrochemical industry, stainless steel structural elements are often used, and protecting such structures as conscientiously as possible is therefore crucial. Steel loses strength following exposure to intense heat. In the case of jet fires and hydrocarbon fires, this process may be rapid.

A number of passive fire protection measures can delay the time taken to reduce the strength of steel. In some emergency cases, such measures could provide sufficient time to evacuate workers or control a blaze in a petrochemical plant. Such fire protection measures must also withstand explosive force to some degree, in the case that a fire results from the explosion of flammable material close to stainless steel containers.

The most common passive fire protection measure is a professionally applied spray coating, one that fulfills international professional standards.