Could better smoke ventilation improve fire prevention strategy in industrial buildings?
In response to a number of fires at UK industrial sites, leading smoke ventilation specialist Whitesales is keen to raise awareness of the importance of restricting the air flow that fuels fires, and extracting the smoke that takes lives.
A look at regional news around the UK over the past few months reveals a considerable number of fires occurring in and around all sorts of buildings. The waste and recycling industry has suffered a number of fires, with major incidents in Londonderry, Lincolnshire, Leeds, Kirkdale, Wentloog, Hull and Corby since July. Fortunately, none of these has involved serious injury or loss of life. Similarly, across the country there are numerous reports of industrial and warehouse buildings involved in fires.
The importance of fire safety planning
In some cases, the fires have been the second or third to occur at the same site within two years. While the vast majority of firms operate as safely as possible and undertake every fire prevention strategy that’s feasible, accidents can happen. One of the most important fire safety planning measures a building or business owner can take is to specify the right smoke ventilation system and products. Waiting for a full refurbishment could well prove to be a false and dangerous economy.
Installing electronically controlled smoke ventilation systems, sited in key areas and linked to a central control panel and a network of sensors, is fundamental to protecting property and lives. Whitesales’ industry-leading Es-Vent smoke vents and Es-Louvre louvres, extract heat and smoke to reduce fire spread and damage and can be fitted to most flat roofs or profiled roofs.
A life-saving solution
One company that knows all too well the fearsome effects of fire is Shanks Waste Management. Shanks’s Rainham mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant suffered a blaze in 2014 that took 81 firemen more than 24 hours to bring under control. In a bid to ensure that any future incident would be less costly, Whitesales were brought in to assess the existing smoke ventilation arrangement and design a better system. The company worked with the client, the design team and the M&E contractor to create a safer system that satisfied best practice and met all codes of practice and regulations.
Shanks’s rebuilt treatment centre now features a combination of high-security Es-Vent single-leaf smoke vents, with impact-resistant polycarbonate glazing for maximum natural light, and Es-Louvre smoke vents – all linked into the building management system. Not only is the interior storage area now daylit, but Shanks can now open vents to regulate interior temperatures and allow fresh air circulation. Most importantly of all, in the event of fire, these life-saving smoke vents will rapidly extract choking smoke and fumes, giving Shanks’s employees much more time to escape the building safely.
Increasing passive comfort ventilation and introducing natural light add real value to any smoke ventilation system, but the most important factor is, of course, safety. It’s vital that plant and warehouse managers seek out confirmation that their existing smoke ventilation is not just suitable for the size and configuration of their buildings, but that each component achieves Building Regulation ADB and ADL compliance and EN 12101-2 Smoke Regulations certification. The alternative is to risk workers’ lives and become another news story among a growing number of dangerous and expensive incidents.
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