November sees the biggest online shopping event of the year happen. Black Friday is a week-long event where brick-and-mortar and online retailers offer huge discounts and one-off deals to encourage consumer spend. And despite the UK being on the cusp of a recession, Brits were predicted to spend an estimated £3.95 billion on Black Friday and Cyber Monday purchases this year.
All this means that the logistics sector, and more importantly the warehouses that underpin it, are more vital to our economy than ever before. Research from Savills notes in the 2021 UKWA report that for every extra £1 bn spent online, a further 775,000 sq. ft of warehouse space is needed to meet the new demand. And as the need for warehouse space increases, there are additional fire safety factors that need to be considered for the responsible person.
Warehouse fires have the potential to be devasting, posing a threat to life and destroying business operations, and to be detrimental to the supply chain. In 2019, 200 firefighters battled through the night to control a huge fire which swept through an Ocado warehouse fire in Hampshire. The robotics warehouse, where 30,000 orders were processed each week had to suspend operations and customers took to Twitter to complain. The warehouse has since reopened and is now even bigger. Sitting at 217,000 sq. ft it fulfils 60,000 direct to customer orders per week when at full capacity – but the fire came at great cost to the retailer with share price dropping by 6% at the time.
What causes warehouse fires?
A key issue facing the UK warehousing sector is lack of land not coming forward for development due to the pressure on Local Authorities by the Government to build more homes. So, with demand for online shopping growing, the knock-on effect means developers and operators are looking at old spaces, adapting and scaling existing, industrial properties to satisfy the demand.
Yet building regulations are failing when it comes to fire precautions for developing older buildings. All single-story buildings are treated the same, resulting in warehouse developments that may well be compliant with statutory guidelines but aren’t properly equipped to prevent fires for a warehouse scenario. Also due to the proximity to other buildings, these types of fires can easily spread, and it also makes it difficult for fire services to get close enough to deal with the fire effectively. Of course, the issues are further compounded by the fact that modern technology now means that more and more warehouses are automated almost 24 hours a day, meaning none or very few personnel are on site. This makes visual identification of a fire incident unlikely, so the safety of the building is completely dependent on automatic fire systems.
Some of the most common causes of warehouse fire, beside arson attacks, are electrical faults, heating equipment and when combustible materials are exposed. For example, there is a significant challenge that cold storage operations face. The very nature of cold storage warehouses presents a significant fire risk due to the materials used to control temperatures. For example, evaporative condensers are used to sustain low temperatures in cold storage warehouses. They do this by removing air moisture to very low levels of humidity, which in the case of a fire would accelerate the spread of flames.
What can be done to prevent warehouse fires?
All these scenarios are preventable when the correct life-safety equipment is installed. Essential action when you consider preventable fires in the UK warehouse industry costs our economy upwards of £230 billion each year.
A risk assessment, when carried out properly and thoroughly according to law (The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005), is the first place to start. It is also advisable to get an independent audit by a consultant or insurer as this will help ensue any fire strategy is robust.
Many modern warehouses now include things such as firewalls which are a cost-effective solution to manage the risk of fire. Smart warehouse managers should also consider the safe storage of waste and other flammable materials to stop the spread of fire if it were to break out. Keeping these materials in a designated safe storage area will reduce the risk of them causing a fire.
The best way to save lives is to ensure automatic fire detection is in place, across the entire facility. With special attention paid to vulnerable areas. Fire specialists can advise on multiple fire-detection solutions that are ideal for warehouses, but it’s important to ensure that the right one for your scenario is installed.
What fire detection is needed in warehouses?
Point type detectors are often the best-value-for-money option, but these smoke detectors should not be used in a dusty warehouse or above 10.5m. Heat detectors should not be used above 7.5m (or 9.5m for an A1 detector).
High Sensitivity Smoke Detection (HSSD) is a great choice, especially in a cold storage warehouse. Just make sure suitable dust filtration is in place to prevent false alarms. If properly designed and installed, they can be simple to maintain.
Beam Detectors are ideal for large and high-level applications, if they are not prone to dust. An advantage of beam detectors is their ability to detect when smoke is scattered over wide areas. This is achieved due to the beam detectors using the obscuration method, which detects fire due to smoke particles obscuring the infra-red light along the sensing path.
Linear Heat Detection Cable is ideal for protecting warehouse racking.
Video Smoke Detection is a superb choice for high-speed detection of high-level risk areas. With high-bay warehousing, there is a risk of smoke stratification, which occurs when the rising smoke reaches a different temperature level in the high building. Instead of rising, the smoke flattens out and may never reach a ceiling-mounted smoke-detection system. Video smoke detection overcomes this risk, by detecting the smoke as soon as it becomes visible to the camera.
Thermal Imaging is now being used across multiple industries to detect hotspots. Industrial laundry facilities rely on thermal imaging to ensure fire safety due to the very nature of the materials they work with being highly combustible. Thermal monitoring systems can detect rising temperatures before the fire has a chance to spread.
Another example is fuel storage which is notoriously hazardous because the commodity itself is so flammable. Corrosion, leaks and human error can lead to explosive, sometimes catastrophic, consequences. Warehouse managers are now working with fire-safety specialists to install systems such as thermal imaging to automatically monitor temperature changes in fuel storage depots via the use of thermal imaging cameras.
All these systems can help avert disaster, satisfy insurer oversight and improve safety for workers and the public.
Why warehouse managers need to review their fire strategy
Driven by consumer demand, the trend for more (and larger) warehouse units will continue to grow; take a drive along any major motorway in the UK to see these huge buildings becoming common place. Research from Forrester states that by 2025 online retail will account for 35% of all retail (driven by events such as Black Friday) meaning that at least 64 million sq. ft of additional warehouse space will be needed for that sector alone. With this growth, the risk of fire also increases, so it’s important for logistics companies and warehouse managers to understand the risk.
In a post-Grenfell world, businesses cannot afford to be complacent. Warehouse building owners and responsible persons need to ensure they not only meet the latest government legislation but also understand insurance companies are tightening their belts when it comes to fire risk, particularly those warehouses operating cold storage with their fire-accelerating environments.
If we look back to the Ocado warehouse fire, where customers were left without their orders, it is wise to remember the impact of fire has to life, business and brand reputation. Something which is devastating at any time of the year, but more so during the peak trading season of Black Friday through to Christmas.
Operations who work with experts to ensure a robust fire strategy, advise on the latest and best detection systems, as well as carry out regular maintenance, will be the ones who benefit from better insurance premiums and more favourable negotiations when it comes to distribution and storage contracts.
For over 100 years Hochiki has led the way in the design and manufacturer of innovative life safety solutions. Its leading edge commercial and industrial fire detection and emergency lighting products have acquired global acceptance as the benchmark for high-integrity and long-term reliability.
For more information, go to www.hochikieurope.com
