WASTE/RECYCLING
CURRENT GUIDANCE POSES RISK TO WASTE BUSINESSES, WARNS CONCRETE EXPERT
W
ith an average of one in every 18 privately operated waste sites in the UK having experienced a fire between 2012 and 2013, Owen Batham, Sales and Marketing Director of Elite Precast Concrete, explains why there’s a growing need
for businesses to be more proactive than ever before to protect their staff, their assets, and – ultimately – the future of their operations. “Waste and recycling facilities are currently encouraged to develop
and implement their own risk management strategies based on the Pollution Protection Guidance (PPG29),” Owen explained. “This was initially developed to help firms reduce the risk, and impact of a potential fire at their sites, and to help minimise threats to both personnel and the environment. Updated in 2010, the guide’s primary strategy still almost exclusively recommends using a combination of maximum stack sizes and minimum separation distances between stacks of combustible materials. With the industry ever-evolving though, it’s more important than ever
that any directives associated with it are also updated to suit the needs and interests of waste and recycling facilities across the UK. In its current form, the PPG29 doesn’t consider any alternative ways to help a business protect itself from fire, and adherence to it can prove more expensive and not necessarily the most efficient option for businesses, especially those that are based in city centres and urban locations where space is at a premium. Insurance premiums have also rocketed over the past few years so
that firms can cover the cost of payouts for facilities which have suffered from a fire. Hand in hand with this, there have been reports of reductions in depth of cover, harsh terms being added to policies, extortionate excesses, and even cover being withdrawn all-together. This has recently been evidenced by Catlin Insurance Company’s announcement of their withdrawal from the waste and recycling industry altogether due to the costs of payouts outweighing the premiums. Defra minister Dan Rogerson revealed a total of 595 fire-related
incidents at private waste sites across a two year period from 2012 to 2013, which shows the true extent of the problem and why there is such a need for action to be taken. Take the recent fire at Rumney, near Cardiff, as a prime example.
Over 70 firefighters tackled the blaze in March this year which involved 2,000 tonnes of waste material at the recycling centre, including plastic and timber, and it took ‘days not hours’ to put out. The fire service said its work was hampered by the presence of 30 to 40 gas cylinders which firefighters had to keep cool for fear of possible explosion, and there was also a large amount of unburned material which they were working hard to prevent catching fire too.
And at a Worksop recycling centre recently, a blaze started in a
building which stored materials destined for recycling, and was the third fire at the centre in just six months. Up to 50 firefighters and officers from 10 different fire stations attended the incident and used seven water jets, an aerial ladder platform, and two light portable pumps to bring the ferocious fire under control. Incidents like these cause massive disruption to both the local
community and businesses alike, and even the services of the Environment Agency are sometimes called upon because of potential threats of pollution such as water run-off which can enter canal networks and in turn impact streams, human health and the wider environment. Although the causes of these fires are still under investigation, so
many that hit national headlines recently that it clearly evidences the need to do more, be more proactive, and be more sophisticated in our campaign to manage risk and avert other disasters. The majority of firms affected by such incidents appeared to have
followed the PPG29 guidelines to the letter, ensuring sufficient gaps between materials and managing their stack heights, yet they still suffered not only the devastating results of a fire taking hold, but also the initial fire quickly spreading throughout their sites. Such fires at plants which store combustible materials can be started
for a large of reasons, through an electrical fault, arson, plant machinery or equipment, through to industrial heaters, electrical cables, and even rare natural occurrences like a lightning strike. Which is why, rather than simply focusing on the appropriate gaps
and height limits of combustible materials, I strongly believe that we should focus on the use of physical fire breaks. These not only make huge sense from a health and safety perspective, but they’re a commercially viable option for any business. Time and time again I’ve seen the use of high-quality, free-standing physical fire breaks both reduce the risk of fires spreading and allow businesses to make full use of their sites – ultimately giving them more space to grow in terms of scale and profitability. The need to increase the use of physical fire breaks is already being
reviewed by the industry, and has been receiving a positive response from the insurance sector too, with those firms implementing them benefitting from reductions in premiums, and continuation of cover when there may have been previous doubt. Many firms are choosing to use high-quality concrete blocks to form
their freestanding fire breaks, as they act as an effective physical fire break and unlike steel or timber, have the lowest rate of temperature rise across the surface, which means their internal zones
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PUBLIC SECTOR ESTATES MANAGEMENT • MAY 2014
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