Loss analysis


Main category: Permanent agriculture Sub category: Intensive farming sheds Jan 2009 to Dec 2016: During this period large loss fires in permanent agricultural premises accounted for 3.6% of all large loss fires


The numbers: There were 175 large loss fires in permanent agricultural premises, 13 of which occurred in intensive farming sheds. Fires in intensive farming sheds accounted for 1.2% of all large loss fires and 7.4% of fires in permanent agricultural premises


Cause


Permanent agricultural premises Intensive farming sheds


Time of day


Permanent agricultural premises Intensive farming sheds


Impedances


Permanent agricultural premises Intensive farming sheds


Accidental 50.0% 54.1%


00:00 - 06:00 06:00 - 12:00 16.2% 22.9%


10.8% 8.1%


Total 26


1


Access 7


0


Deliberate 13.9% 14.8%


12:00 -18:00 21.6% 45.9%


0


Unknown/unassigned 36.1% 31.1%


18:00 - 00:00 16.2% 0.0%


Acetylene Inadequate water 3


13 1


Unknown 35.1% 22.9%


Resources 3


0


The cost: Fires in permanent agricultural premises account for 1.6% of estimated financial losses in all large loss fires, with an average loss of £293,802 per fire. Fires in intensive farming sheds account for 38.6% of the estimated large losses in industrial processing premises, with an average cost of £330,583 per fire


Insurance component


Permanent agricultural premises


Intensive farming sheds


cables or wiring


• damage caused by animals pecking or chewing the insulation on electrical wiring


• combustible materials being placed too close to electrical equipment, which may be producing heat during normal operation or becoming hot because of a fault


• arcing and sparking of electrical equipment Addressing the problems


Ensure that periodic inspections of the electrical installation are made by a competent person, in accordance with BS 7671 (formerly the IET Wiring Regulations). Carry out periodic in service inspections of portable electrical appliances, in accordance with HSG107: Maintaining portable and transportable electrical equipment, and take particular care with the selection and location of heaters and infra red lamps. Self heating of hay stacks has in some cases


led to fires that have spread to farm buildings. Many farms have extremely large hay stacks in the autumn. Although it is not practical to reduce their size sufficiently to prevent self heating occurring, for business continuity reasons large stacks should be broken down into smaller units with sufficient separation to minimise the possibility of fire spread to neighbouring stacks and farm buildings. One in seven large loss fires in these premises is started deliberately: many are the result of opportunist


Business Building 63.6% 57.2% interruption 15.0% 28.0% Fires in intensive farming sheds cost on average £408m2 Contents Loss of rent 2.6% 1.5% 0.1% 0.0%


Machine and plant


4.8% 5.7% Stock Other 4.8% 6.0% 8.9% 1.6% , whereas permanent agricultural fires as a whole cost £447m2


vandalism, but in some areas pressure groups may be active and target the building in a more organised way. When new intensive farming facilities are being planned, they should be sited where they may be easily reached by staff, but away from roads and footpaths. The buildings themselves should be of non combustible construction, and stocks of bedding, feed and similar combustible materials should be stored in nearby buildings. The quantities of hay, straw and feed stored within animal accommodation should be the minimum necessary for their immediate needs. While the building should be secure when staff are


not present, escape routes for large livestock should be planned and easily made available from the outside, to provide a direct route for animals to open air and a place of safety with minimum human intervention. In practice, where buildings exceed 30m in length, there should be at least two exits located as far apart as possible, preferably at each end of the building. Hot work should be avoided where at all possible,


and where unavoidable should not be undertaken by staff or contractors within or in the vicinity of animal sheds without a specific assessment. All hot work should be undertaken observing the preventive measures outlined in RISCAuthority Recommendations RC7. Further information is set out in RC 10: Fire safety in agricultural and horticultural premises


Adair Lewis is technical consultant at the Fire Protection Association


These statistics are based on information supplied by loss adjusters to the FPA on a voluntary basis and not all insurers conducting business in the UK contribute to this dataset. They represent only sums paid out where the total loss is in excess of £100k and are deficient of losses under £100K, deductibles, underinsurance, uninsured, self-insured and captively insured components, which may be significant. In a year, total losses captured typically account for 50% of the ABI declared annual fire loss figure – which is similarly deficient of the same components (except the £100k threshold).


FOCUS


www.frmjournal.com DECEMBER 2017/JANUARY 2018


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