Fire Risk Management.

Fire Damage, Risk management insurance, and more specifically fire claims, the main causes of fire and tips on how to prevent them.

1. Electrical Faults: The prevention of electrical faults can be achieved by:

• Frequent visual inspections of all electrical wiring (where possible)
• Regular maintenance of electrical reticulation by a qualified electrician
• Ensure that all electrical appliances are switched off after hours
• Ensure that plugs sockets are not overloaded. A multi-plug adaptor will allow you to use as many appliances as needed without the risk of overheating
• For more information on Electrical Certificate of Compliance please follow this link 

2. Arson

• The best way to prevent arson is to remove the fuel used by an arsonist by doing the following:
• Store combustible material away from the buildings and perimeter fencing- preferably inside lidded waste bins.
• Remove waste regularly.
• If there is insufficient external waste storage space, store waste in a secure internal area and remove regularly.
• Ensure that access to your property is controlled with proper boundary fences or walls and access controlled gates.

3. Smoking

• In line with the South African Smoking Law, smoking should be prohibited throughout the premises.
• Appropriate notices must be prominently displayed.
• Instead of allowing smoking anywhere outside the building, rather implement and provide:
• Designated smoking areas that are kept free of combustible items such as paper, litter, flammable liquids etc.
• Metal lidded dustbins for the disposal of ashtrays and cigarette buds. Ensure that these dustbins are emptied every day.

4. Poor housekeeping and storage practices

• Many fires occur where standard storage and housekeeping practices are not adhered to:
• Combustible materials must not be stored close to gas or electric heaters, boilers, light fittings and electrical distribution boards.
• Discourage heaters with naked flames such as gas heaters. Rather use fan heaters and fluid-filled heaters which are much safer.
• Keep to prescribed stacking heights of goods
• Remove waste from the premises on a daily basis
• Maintain proper access to all parts of the premises - free from all obstruction

5. Lighting

• Bursting florescent lights are one of the main causes of fires in commercial and industrial buildings.
• Where possible, maintain proper stacking heights
• If possible, avoid storing combustible contents close to or under florescent lights
• Traditionally high bay lights have large round globes. History shows that they have a tendency to shatter for no apparent reason and that debris then falls onto whatever is below.
• If it falls onto combustible material, a fire is inevitable. Therefore, where possible replace these globes with shatter resistant energy saving globes.