In the modern large buildings, whether industrial, commercial or administrative, there are a number of factors that can cause a fire to spread quickly and has a devastating effect. How can this risk be avoided?
STRICT AND TIMELY FIRE SAFETY POLICY
European and international fire safety regulations provide recommendations for the fire protection of such buildings and oblige owners to comply with them. This measure is absolutely necessary and sufficient to save human life and health, but when it comes to the economic consequences of a possible fire, the taking of firefighting measures should not be limited to regulatory norms. It is very important that all who are interested in the development of sustainable buildings and enterprises to develop a better culture for fire prevention. The responsibility is primarily to the owners and managers who need to maintain a high level of awareness of the best practices in fire protection and to build, maintain and develop a high culture of fire safety. This means that it is necessary to implement a strict and timely fire safety management policy, including a set of engineering, technical and organizational measures for fire protection. The implementation of such a policy will lead to:
1) prevent the occurrence of fire
2) quick detection and extinguishing of fire
3) limit the spread of fire
RELIABLE FIRE PROTECTION IS AN INVESTMENT IN BUSINESS RESILIENCE
Reliable fire safety provides protection of people, workflow, facilities, equipment, property and materials from fire and combustion products, eliminates or minimizes the risks of fire occurrence and also increases the practical knowledge of people in implementation of fire safety measures. Among the most vulnerable to fire safety are industrial buildings – production and storage facilities, as well as high administrative and commercial buildings. The reasons for this are complex.
First of all, it is necessary to have an effective control of the materials used in the construction and exterior cladding of the building in term of their fire resistance. On the one hand, the building industry provides materials with improved insulation properties, better resistance to stress, materials with lower weight and easier to install. But, on the other hand, as in many cases, this involves materials that have limited fire resistance.
Secondly, the businesses and buildings owners should be aware of the fire risk of the materials and equipment inside the building. It is necessary to have an effective control of flammable substances and materials and to control the sources of ignition. For example, the modern storage systems use much more structurally unstable materials and storage flammable materials in the immediate vicinity. This is very good in terms of economic efficiency for the owners, but often these practices are inadequate when considering the risks of fire.
Thirdly, the new technologies and technical tools for quick detection and extinguishing of a possible fire are not yet sufficiently adopted. This is mainly due to the lack of information and misconceptions about the effectiveness of these tools. For example, a very common view is that sprinkler systems do not contribute much to control the fire, as that accidentally triggered sprinklers will cause damage to property in the building. Practical data refutes these fears – the losses from fire in rooms without a sprinkler system are seven times greater than the damage from accidental operation of a sprinkler and water leakage. This means that the fire is several times more common and causes more damage compared to the accidental actuation of the sprinkler system.
On the other hand, there is extremely limited application of new alternative fire extinguishing systems, which have significantly improved extinguishing efficiency and are particularly suitable for industrial sites and buildings with high fire hazard. Such systems are, for example, firefighting systems with water mist, high expansion foam, fast response sprinklers or clean gas extinguishing agents. These extinguishing systems provide an effective firefighting by combining with an automatic system for very early fire detection.
Although fire protection is often perceived as an inconvenience or a waste of money, the reality is that the fire is the most costly and dangerous risk for all managers and owners of buildings and businesses. According to insurance companies, the fire is still the number one cause of loss and accounts for about 40% of all insurance claims worldwide. The managers and building owners should take money in fire protection as an investment in their business resilience even more by the fact that the application of adequate and reliable fire protection measures can significantly reduce the insurance premium.
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