Fire - a preventable tragedy

News headlines about the fires provide much food for thought. When a fire has endangered the existence of a company or at least caused a long production stoppage. In extreme cases, entire lives have been lost, sometimes even human lives. In these situations, the question inevitably arises as to whether the fires could have been prevented. My own view is that fires are always preventable. The key is anticipation and risk identification, defining the responsible persons and their roles, training and practising the right behaviour in the event of an accident.

In Finland, a lot of attention is paid to fire safety. We have a Rescue Act to improve safety and reduce the number of accidents, and the Government has issued a decree on rescue operations. The Ministry of the Environment has decrees promoting fire safety in buildings and in production and storage buildings. In practice, fire safety is based on procedures, which are laid down by means of inspections of premises. A reliable picture of the situation as a basis for risk assessment is obtained when inspection rounds are carried out with the customer in a careful and professional manner.

Risk management must be continuous, as even small changes in, for example, the routes taken by staff can create new types of hazards. The importance of assessing where and how different changes affect everything cannot be overemphasised. Risks must also be assessed from different perspectives. In addition to fire safety, there is also the need to take into account ATEX legislation, chemicals and occupational risks, not forgetting the impact of maintenance on safety. The best results are achieved when workers are involved in planning and implementing safe working practices. Just as many workplaces have set a target of zero accidents at work, a similar target of zero can be set when it comes to fire safety. Many workplaces have also achieved zero accident frequency, so why not do the same for fires?

At Protect, we have been working closely with customers on safety for more than 15 years. Often, joint safety rounds have identified areas for improvement, but it has been great to see how well companies have taken up suggestions for improvement. In many cases, customers have commented that the shortcomings they have identified would have gone unnoticed. In addition to a reliable partnership, we provide our customers with up-to-date and comprehensive services for the continuous improvement of fire safety. Our proactive safety work ensures continuity of operations, and our approach ensures that we always find the best solution for the customer.

Improving fire safety is not rocket science. But if a fire realises the risks, then things get more complicated, because not only the future of the company but also hundreds of jobs could be at stake.

Pertti Salo