Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Warehouse Brochure PDF
Warehouse Brochure PDF
Warehouse Brochure PDF
Technical Report
Contents
Introduction
Conclusion
13
References
14
Are you
storing up problems?
Cover Photo of Enchede fireworks factory explosion, 13 May 2000, courtesy of The German Press Agency.
Willis Warehouse Fires 2
Introduction
The first version of this technical report was published in1998 to highlight to our clients the disturbing trend
of large warehouse losses. This third version of the report follows the recent fire in the Dutch border town of
Enschede that graphically demonstrated the possible catastrophic and tragic results of warehouse losses.
This high profile loss adds another statistc to the warehousing sectors loss record that as an illustration
continues to represent 25 per cent of the total claims value handled by Global Property and Casualty (GPC).
This problem is not restricted to our client base and a wider review of the warehouse sectors loss record
shows large fire incidents to be a widespread problem. Certainly our experience shows that this trend appears
to continue unabated which is why we again wish to stress the many lessons apparently going unheeded
from previous incidents.
This review is intended to assist those responsible for the
protection of warehouses to identify the variety of problems that
can arise and learn from the many incidents that have occurred.
The review is also intended to raise the awareness of
organisations to the potential damage that can result from major
warehouse incidents. Property damage is an obvious result of
large fire losses but the associated disruption to operations and
business interruption potential may not be fully appreciated.
Furthermore, there is likely to be no hiding place from adverse
press comment following a warehouse fire which by their nature
are spectacular, and hence newsworthy events. Such press
coverage often leads to damaged corporate reputation and
a negative effect on client confidence which add to the
unaccounted losses an organisation may suffer following
a storage fire.
Our review of past incidents has shown that major fire
losses are not typically caused by a single incident. More
often major fires are a result of a string of unforeseen events
and circumstances leading up to ignition and during
subsequent attempts to control the fire. To aid in understanding these events we have reviewed the leading
causation factors which typify large fire losses and identified
common characteristics which contribute to their scale.
These lessons have been presented from a fire prevention
(prior to ignition) and fire control (post-ignition) strategy
viewpoint. Our advice is that both aspects need to be
considered in any all-encompassing warehouse
protection strategy.
The risk of large warehouse fires always exists in any storage
facility and we aim to raise awareness to this risk. We have
therefore presented a Serious Storage Fire risk-ranking tool which
can be used to aid in qualifying the degree of risk at your
particular storage operations. This questionnaire-based tool
combines the likelihood and possible consequence factors of a
large fire into an overall risk ranking. When plotted on a risk map,
the relative risk of a major fire incident can be readily identified
to enable resources to be directed to priority areas.
Willis Warehouse Fires 3
Arson/Suspicious
23%
11%
Open Flame
8%
17%
7%
3%
Electrical
10%
12%
9%
Heating Equipment
Smoking
Other Equipment
Other
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
never be
underes
should
timated
The prevention of arson must be multi-faceted and always
designed to stay one step ahead of the arsonist. Basic security
measures will help to protect a facility and should encompass
secure perimeter fencing, external lighting and regular, but
variable patrols of the facility by reputable security personnel.
Additional precautions to provide an extra level of protection
include intruder detection, CCTV monitoring, access control,
identification badges, and random inventory and security
checks.
Shrink-wrap
UK, 1999
Belgium, 1996
Smoking
Bradford, UK 1992(3)
A fire started in a raw material warehouse when
drums of azodiisobutyronitrile (AZDN) ruptured
due to their proximity to a hot steam condensate
pipe. The material reacted with adjacent incompatible
materials leading to a complete loss of the
warehouse and extensive contamination of local
rivers. As a result of the lessons learnt the rebuilt
facility was protected by sprinkler systems with fire
wall segregation and a firewater catchment system.
Electrical Equipment
The ignition risk from electrical equipment can be
minimised by ensuring it is maintained through a
formalised maintenance programme performed by
qualified staff. Maintenance should be supplemented
by regular inspections (a combination of visual and
thermographic inspections is essential) and an
effective work order system to ensure problems are
rectified promptly.
Of particular note is the number of large warehouse
fires that have been reportedly caused by lighting
equipment failures. Light fixtures will invariably
be positioned directly above storage, presenting an everpresent ignition source if the fixtures mode of failure can
release hot material. This risk is common to every storage
area and a review of light fittings and maintenance should
be seen as an important aspect of fire prevention.
Key exposure areas to be aware of include:
n
Fluorescent lamps
Wilton, UK 1995(3)
A plastics warehouse was completely lost to fire
resulting in a US$14 million stock loss. The probable
cause was concluded to be the failure of a fluorescent light
fitting which resulted in molten acrylic from the light
cover dripping onto storage. Both the design and
maintenance of the lighting systems were considered to
be at fault. Subsequently the light design was reviewed
and the previous breakdown approach to light fitting
maintenance was replaced by a formal inspection and
maintenance programme.
Internal exposures
Natural exposures
External exposures
Fire Spread
Fire spread through storage areas is dependent upon the
fire characteristics of the product involved, storage
arrangements and the materials of construction of the
building itself. If not correctly accounted for, the rapid
spread of fire can lead to a fire growing beyond the
capabilities of both automatic fire protection systems and
the manual fire-fighting response resulting in the
complete loss of large storage buildings. The following
aspects have repeatedly proved to increase the speed
of fire spread:
n
Combustible construction
Housekeeping
Renfrew, UK 1977(8)
Fire Walls
Fire walls are an important passive protection feature
which, if properly designed and used, can limit the spread
of fire through large storage areas. Common examples of
the use of fire walls include:
n
n
n
Belgium, 1996
Smoke Generation
Manual fire fighting inside large open warehouses is
extremely difficult and dangerous, and comes with
no guarantee of success. Heat and smoke generation,
which is a consequence of any fire, greatly hinders
fire fighters and can obscure the seat of a fire. In addition,
the smoke can spread far beyond the seat of the fire causing
widespread damage to perishable or sensitive products.
It is therefore critical to consider how smoke generated
by a fire will behave and how its effects can be minimised.
In particular, climate controlled storage areas require
special consideration as the air recirculation systems can
rapidly spread smoke to unaffected areas.
Smoke control strategies can mitigate these problems
using a number of features:
n
Environmental Effects
USA, 1997
Conclusion
In todays economy an effective product distribution system
is seen as an essential pre-requisite to being a successful
business partner. Indeed, more and more management
time is focused on improving delivery performance and
shifting storage responsibilities further up the supply chain.
This has resulted in the logistics interface between
companies becoming a high profile issue upon which
continued business relationships depend.
At the heart of any product distribution system is the
warehouse, whose role in business continuity has been
generally under-valued in the past. This has resulted in
risk management efforts and fire protection investment
being diverted to more traditionally recognised business
critical areas such as manufacturing. This lack of attention
is in sharp contrast to the criticality of warehouses and
which we suggest has led to the unabated trend in
warehouse fires.
Our clear message to those responsible for warehouses
is to give careful consideration to the possible
consequences of a major fire. Loss history has shown that
serious fires will occur in dedicated warehouses,
manufacturing storage areas and third-party warehouses
whatever the product stored and therefore they should
never be discounted. There are a number of well known
contributory factors which have directly led to serious fires
in storage areas and continue to repeat themselves.
Lessons in fire prevention and control are therefore here for
all to note and if included within an all-encompassing
protection strategy can significantly reduce the risk and size
of major fire incidents.
The objective of this Technical Report is to assist the risk
management community to further raise awareness of the
wide range of exposures linked to warehousing. In order to
assist in this process, we have designed a Risk-Ranking Tool
for Serious Storage Fires which can be found at the back
of this report.
All our
knowledge
comes through
the correcting
of our mistakes
Karl Popper
References
1. Serious Storage Area Fires.
Fire Prevention Association, No. 318, March 1999.
2. The U.S. Fire Problem Overview Report. Leading Causes
And Other Patterns And Trends - Storage Properties
Excluding Dwelling Garages.
Fire Analysis and Research Division, National Fire
Protection Association, April 2000.
3. Loss Prevention Bulletin, Issue 132.
Institution of Chemical Engineers, December 1996.
4. Hazardous Cargo Bulletin Incident Log.
July, 1994.
5. The Probability of Fires in Warehouses
and Storage Premises.
Hymes and Flynn, 1992.
Further Reading
Risk-Ranking Tool
for Serious Storage Fires
The following questionnaire can be used to quickly measure the relative risk of serious
fires in your storage facilities. The first step is to complete the questionnaire and sum the
likelihood and consequence scores. The scores can then be used to position the overall serious
fire risk rating of a particular facility onto the risk map shown at the end. From their positions
on the risk map, different facilities can be compared and areas where improvements are
most needed can be identified.
Likelihood Factors - Fire Prevention Aspects
Arson
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Perimeter fence provided with locked gates during unoccupied times and illuminated?
Intruder alarm system installed and alarms continually monitored?
Continuous security guard presence and patrols?
Access control system installed?
Random inventory and security checks performed?
Electrical Equipment
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Exposures
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Storage areas segregated from manufacturing or other activities by detachment or fire walls?
Severe external exposures e.g. high hazard facilities adjoin storage building with high risk of fire spread? (If YES go to 20)
Moderate external exposure: e.g. moderate-risk facilities nearby with adequate separation to hinder fire spread? (If YES go to 20)
Low external exposure: e.g. well detached facilities, light surrounding vegetation and low build-up of combustible waste?
Product stored in multi-tenant warehouse without product separation?
Yes
No
0
0
0
0
0
+1
+1
+1
+1
+1
+1
0
0
0
0
0
+1
+1
+1
+1
0
0
0
0
0
+1
+1
+1
+1
+1
0
+3
+2
+1
+1
+1
0
0
0
0
Yes
No
+1
Fire Spread
22. High fire loading e.g. products containing or packaged with an appreciable quantity of plastics, rubber or flammable liquids? (If YES go to 25) +3
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
Medium fire load e.g. wood, paper or natural fibre cloth with limited plastic content? (If YES go to 25)
Low fire load e.g. non-combustible materials in paper, cardboard or wood packaging materials?
Aerosols and/or flammable liquids are stored alongside general storage?
The storage building contains extensive use of combustible construction materials, e.g. combustible insulation or roofing?
The storage area is divided into maximum 4,000 m2 areas by effective firewalls or detached by minimum 30m open spaces?
Fire Detection
28.
29.
30.
On-site and/or public fire brigade available within 5 minutes and capable of effective fire control?
Firewater supplies available - hydrants, water reservoirs?
+2
+1
+1
+1
0
0
0
0
0
+1
0
0
0
+1
+1
+2
0
0
+1
+1
+4
0
0
0
+1
+1
+1
+1
+1
0
0
+1
Smoke Control
34.
Smoke control strategy considered and aided by features such as smoke extraction systems,
heat and smoke vents, fire doors activated by smoke detectors?
Environmental Issues
35.
36.
Likelihood
High Risk
Priority for fire prevention improvements
10
High Risk
Priority for fire control improvements
Medium Risk
Low Risk
0
10
Consequence
20
Willis
Global Property & Casualty
One Camomile Street
London EC3A 7LA
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7488 8111
Fax: +44 (0)20 7975 2402
7 Hanover Square
7th Floor
New York NY10004
Telephone: +1 (212) 344 8888
Fax: +1 (212) 344 8442
Website: www.willis.com