The Industrial Building Fire Challenge

Industrial premises come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and cover everything from the smallest traditional engineering workshop to the latest cutting-edge, hi-tech production facility. They can range from a relatively low fire load, low risk one-man operation to the massive high-hazard chemical and petrochemical complex. Some have a fast turnaround of goods with little inventory, while others demand the storage of highly flammable fuel, raw materials and finished goods. Not all operate within the conventional nine-to-five timeframe; some are in action around the clock whereas others have automatic machinery that is in unmanned “lights out” operation. Even the fire load can vary in some industrial premises, particularly those involved in manufacturing and storing seasonal goods.
If that is not enough to contend with, while industrial buildings around the world have been constructed to comply with a variety of building codes and standards, older buildings that were constructed long before today’s regulations and codes of practice are still commonplace in many countries. The result is that industrial buildings can still be found that are built to less stringent standards than those in force today, with a degree of fire protection, compartmentation, fire stopping, fire detection and fire suppression that would be unacceptable in industrial premises built today. They frequently also utilise materials that are no longer acceptable. This includes asbestos and cladding and lining materials with unacceptable spread of flame or other fire performance characteristics.
The problems associated with these older industrial buildings are compounded by three other factors. Many are now used for purposes other than those originally intended, and possibly without approval for their change of use; they may well contain substantially different fire loadings and risks than were originally anticipated; and may now have environmental or neighbouring challenges that did not exist when the premises were originally built.

New methods, new challenges
Manufacturing, assembling and warehousing are today highly automated operations where the philosophy is often to achieve the maximum stockholding in the minimum space; to make every square metre of space earn its keep. High-level – sometimes floor the ceiling – racking and access gangways so narrow that fork-lift trucks and side loaders completely block the gangway are the norm.
Companies involved in the manufacture or distribution of seasonal or fast-turnaround stock run the risk of using every conceivable space for storage without sufficiently considering the implications for the safe evacuation of employees in a fire, or the safety of the emergency services tackling a blaze as a result of blocked access or evacuation routes. Storage can also be allowed to spill over into adjoining areas during periods of peak demand, utilising forecourts, yards and loading bays.
But, it is not just the increased density of goods that needs to be assessed. Attention also needs to be paid to the fire load characteristics of the stored goods. For example, highly flammable plastic shrink wrapping is now in widespread use, as is highly combustible cardboard and plastic packaging materials and plastic pallets.
These raise the question of fire risk assessments for industrial premises. While the need for them should by now be widely understood, the importance of treating them as an on-going activity may not be sufficiently appreciated by industry. Fire strategies for industrial premises need to be particularly robust and reliable, and the reality of the situation is that in industrial buildings where the volume of stock and its location change on a daily basis, a fire risk assessment needs to be undertaken at a matching frequency.

Empty building risk
The building owners’ responsibilities are not removed by virtue of the building being unused or unoccupied. Even if the building is properly decommissioned and mothballed; the owner or occupier still has responsibility for the maintenance of fire detection and alarm systems or fire suppression installations in as far as they safeguard maintenance or security personnel, or impact on the safety of firefighters who may be called upon to tackle a blaze in the empty building.
Very careful thought has to be given to fire safety precautions before shutting down existing fire detection and firefighting installations or cancelling maintenance regimes. Empty premises are also particularly prone to vandalism and arson, so effective security needs to be implemented to make sure that essential fire safety equipment has not been maliciously damaged or even stolen.

Neighbourhood assessment
Particularly in older premises, a fire can easily spread to adjoining premises, due to the poorer fire performance of the materials used for its construction or the closeness of neighbouring buildings. So, there is a strong argument for co-operating with the management of nearby industrial units to exchange information on fire safety precautions, potential fire risks, preventative measures and fire risk assessments. Adopting an integrated and co-ordinated approach with neighbouring sites, and sharing that information with the local emergency services may well pay huge dividends in the event of a fire.

Special risks
Whomever is responsible for undertaking the fire risk assessment, it is imperative that he or she has an intimate understanding of the special risks associated with industrial buildings in general and of the specific material, production and process risks and challenges of the particular site. These risk assessments must be carried out and regularly updated by competent specialists who can demonstrate experience in these often volatile and special high-hazard environments.
Risk assessments for any high-risk industrial site – particularly if it uses toxic, highly flammable or explosive substances – should not be limited to what might be described as “internal” fire safety threats and challenges. For instance, the responsible assessor needs to take into account what is going on beyond the site’s perimeter fence that might pose a fire risk: what spill-over risks do neighbouring properties and their processes pose, and how can these be negated.

Specific solutions
The type and complexity of the fire detection and alarm system and the provision of fixed fire suppression equipment will naturally vary from site to site, depending on many factors. Certainly, there is no shortage of reliable solutions on the market that adhere to the latest standards and codes of practice.
However when considering larger, more business critical or high risk industrial sites it is wise not to fall into the trap of believing that detection, alarm and suppression are all that need to concern the building owner. Frequently there is much more that needs to be considered. After all, the objective is to minimise the impact of a fire, and that may well mean not assuming that your responsibilities end with the arrival of the emergency services. The resources that are essential for the fire and rescue service need to be available at a moment’s notice. One example is fire hydrants. Not only do they need to be in the right places, the pressure at each hydrant needs to be tested regularly.

Testing is essential
Testing of fire preparedness in industrial premises is not merely a matter of routine maintenance of the detection and alarm system or the fire suppression equipment; it should embrace every aspect of the emergency and evacuation arrangements in as close to a real-life or worse-case scenario as possible. The reality of the situation is that, while you may only ever have one fire, it may turn out to be the organisation’s last. The statistics on business closures following a fire make sobering reading, and the life and property stakes are too high in these high risk environments to leave anything to chance.

By Graham Collins, Editor

Picture courtesy www.DirectNIC.com