Despite the increasing automation of this sector, Adair Lewis finds a high incidence of costly fires


Industrial manufacturing risk review


T IS estimated that more than 400 billion Lego bricks have been made since they were introduced in 1958 – equivalent to 62 bricks per person for the Earth’s entire population. People should therefore be good at making things. It seems however that recent history, especially in the UK, tells us that this is not necessarily the case, with fewer things being manufactured than say 50 years ago. The problem seems to be that, despite the


I


decline of manufacturing, the number and cost of major fires in this sector remains a cause for concern. During the nine year period of this survey, there were 795 major fires (15% of the total and significantly more than one a week) in industrial processing plants, 130 occurring in manufacturing premises.


Not only the numbers, but also the costs of these


fires to insurers – and hence to industry in the form of premiums – is staggering. The average cost of a major fire in industrial manufacturing is over £1.5m, with the total for the industrial processing sector over £1.3bn (an average of £150m a year from 2009 to 2017). The total for industrial manufacturing for the nine years is ‘only’ £204m, which is hardly reassuring. If there is a plus side, it is that over 60% of the


fires (68% in the case of manufacturing plants) are caused accidentally, and only about 10% deliberately. The occurrence of arson is thus well below the average in the manufacturing sector. It is perhaps no surprise that the fires tend to be


spread out fairly evenly throughout the day and night. This will be due to shift work, with no peak in the occurrence of fires in the hours of darkness that tends to be associated with deliberate fire setting. Disappointingly, over a third were recorded as occurring at an unknown time of day – a surprise


52 MAY 2018 www.frmjournal.com


when shift working would suggest the presence of staff at most times to witness a fire in its incipient stages. Problems experienced by fire and rescue


services in gaining access to premises on six occasions also suggest that staff were not present at the time of every major fire. The continuing recording of acetylene cylinders as causing problems during firefighting is of concern too. Constant efforts should be made to reduce the incidence of acetylene, especially with a reduction in the numbers of ‘spare’ cylinders held on sites. Six cases of inadequate water supplies for


firefighting are another worry, and identifying water sources should be part of the fire risk assessment (FRA) for industrial premises. The possibility that they may be compromised should be considered when emergency plans are drawn up for the business. This should also be raised during liaison meetings with local fire officers, so that they may give assurance that the volumes of water are acceptable. The breakdown in insurance components of losses associated with these fires reveals little difference between manufacturing and industrial processing in general. The major element of the losses relates to business interruption, with the property being somewhat secondary. Cost per square metre for manufacturing is slightly more than for industrial processing, no doubt reflecting the cost of plant, but this could increase dramatically in future as automation increases. It is notable, however, that the cost of £1,113m2


for manufacturing plants is already


significantly greater than the £473,146m2 associated with industrial assembly areas.


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