BAFSA webinar: Thursday, 6 May 10:00–12:00: Warehouses, storage facilities & distribution centres

Why automatic fire sprinklers should be a requirement in warehouses and distribution centres… thus protecting national and local business continuity and resilience.

Fires in warehouses and large single-storey buildings are more frequent than is generally thought. Research has shown that one in five warehouses in the United Kingdom will have a fire, requiring the attendance of firefighters, over the course of its lifetime. While there may be fewer fires in warehousing than in manufacturing, the impact on business in financial terms can be disproportionately higher through loss of property, stock and the costs of business interruption. All of these fires have economic, social and environmental costs for the locale, the country, as well as industry. 

Modern warehouse/logistics management often demands quick turnaround of consignments and it is possible that the warehouse managers may not be aware of exactly what is being stored. This webinar will illustrate how the presence of sprinklers ensures that the growth of any fire will be contained prior to the arrival of the fire service and allow safer access for crews to extinguish any residual burning, thus reducing the excessive expense and risks to firefighters on standby for weeks.

There are a number of other reasons for reducing fire incidents and losses attributable to fires in un-sprinklered warehouses. With the ever-increasing awareness of the impact on the environment of the products of combustion and of contaminated firefighting water, a reduction of any kind would be beneficial. Products of combustion can travel extensively in the water used for firefighting, and the contaminants in smoke may be deposited several miles downwind. Likewise, water used may enter domestic or agricultural water supplies and the effects experienced over a wide area. 

During this webinar our speakers will illustrate how, if the installation of sprinklers is considered at the start of any building project, developers and business owners can gain a significant return on investment and ensure that their people, the property, its varied and valued contents and specialist machinery will be protected from fire for the life of the building.

We will reflect on the financial and economic impacts of fires in un-sprinklered warehouses and show the direct financial implication of a warehouse fire on the national and local economy, job losses, supply-chain disruption, pollution and potential long-term effects on local communities.

Our guest speakers:

• Tom Roche, Senior Consultant within the International Codes and Standards Group for FM Global and Secretary of The Business Sprinkler Alliance
• Ian Gough, Senior Technical Adviser, BAFSA
• Alan Crichton, Design Course facilitator and Chair of the Technical Committee, BAFSA

There will be a panel discussion and Q&A after the presentations. You can submit questions in advance by emailing them to: Wendy.otway@bafsa.org.uk

For more information, please visit: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zronorJNShKonhLFEjKiGQ

We hope you and your colleagues will register to attend and I look forward to seeing you on Thursday, 6 May.