Then as now – Substantial large loss potential

The potential for large losses is still high in the food industry, and the causes of loss are frequently the same: electrical defects, arson, hot work, highly combustible substances, or overheating, for example. What do these large losses and countless other losses tell us?

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  The main causes of loss are deficiencies involving electrical equipment, e.g. as a result of inappropriate servicing and maintenance.
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  Structures represent a high fire load if the insulation materials are combustible, e.g. composite walls, trapezoidal plate roofs with combustible insulation, and bitumen roof cladding. Operations represent a high fire load when operating equipment like transportation machinery, containers, packaging materials, or electrical installations contain combustible plastic material. Fire can spread extremely fast and cause substantial smoke damage. As the smoke sometimes contains toxic substances, fire-fighting operations are hampered even further.
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  Automatic extinguishing systems are either not installed for risk-aggravating operating equipment like smoking, deep-frying, and baking units, ovens, and dryers or they are defective.
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  Extensive building complexes often have inferior fire separations – if at all. Risk-aggravating operating areas are often built without structural separation.
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  Goods and production resources (foodstuffs) are easily damaged by smoke and water during fires.
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  Minor fires may call for elaborate reconditioning operations because of the smoke emitted.
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  Remediation costs are driven up by the stringent regulations on clean rooms and hygiene in the food industry. For example, reconditioning is often prohibited even when expensive operating equipment is involved.
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  If there is no automatic fire detection system in place, the intervention of the fire services is delayed unnecessarily. Even when such systems are installed, they are not always equipped with the correct appliances or charged with sufficient supplies of fire water.
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  For reasons of safety, fire services regularly decide that a building constructed with combustible composite panels should only be entered with a view to rescuing people and not for fire-fighting purposes.
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  Automated production lines and other valuable operating equipment increase the insurance value considerably.

Loss prevention recommendations

In the food industry, it is essential that structural, operational, and organisational fire protection measures are geared to each other. The following recommendations are made for effective loss prevention:

Structural fire protection

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  For the purposes of effective fire-fighting, the areas of complexes and fire compartments should be as small as possible. Firefighters soon reach their limits when fire compartments cover an area of several thousand square metres.
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  Risk-aggravating sections of factories (e.g. smoking and deep-frying units, mechanical rooms, battery-charging stations, storage areas with combustible fluids) should be separated from other sections by fire-resisting elements.
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  If spatial separation between storage areas and production areas is not possible, structural separation between the two complexes is a wise alternative.
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  The fire-resisting properties of the roof system should be as advanced as possible, which means in particular that bitumen or plastic lining is replaced with such elements as bitumen-free vapour barriers or mineral wool insulation.
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  Composite walls and ceilings with combustible insulation (polyurethane, polystyrene, etc.) should be avoided if possible. Composite panels should only be employed for individual sections in small areas using tested and approved components (cf. Further information).

Operational fire protection

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  If a factory contains areas with high property or BI exposures, it should be protected by fire-extinguishing systems. Ideally, area protection sprinklers should be in place for value-producing manufacturing and storage areas, the aim being to fight fires at an early stage and thus prevent large losses when there are high fire loads. Spot protection is advisable for risk-aggravating facilities like deep-frying and smoking units.
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  Testing and maintenance of electrical installations and control and security systems are of decisive importance; testing may include thermographic methods.
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  Also, water can only support the fire-fighting effort effectively if it is in sufficient supply.

Organisational fire protection

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  Effective organisational fire protection is essential for food-manufacturing plants with a pronounced BI exposure and can be provided by, for instance, a qualified fire protection organisation with an experienced fire safety engineer.

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