Most businesses require a safe on their premises for one reason or another. It might be to store money taken in a shop or hospitality venue. Or it could be required to store sensitive documents, including digital files like discs and memory sticks.
Whatever you intend to store in your business’ safe, you want to rest assured that it is secure in every eventuality. One such situation to consider is what might happen should a fire break out on your premises.
Despite what you might think, items kept in regular safes aren’t immune from fire damage. The heat generated around the safe can still cause the likes of memory sticks to melt. What’s more, fire resistant safes will often also be tested to see whether they can withstand a building collapsing around them.
How long will a fire safe last in a blaze?
This depends on the classification that the safe is given. Some fire safes are tested to provide one hour of protection to paper documents and digital media should a blaze break out around the safe.
Others will provide protection for a shorter time, such as 30 minutes, but hopefully that will still be long enough for the fire brigade to reach your premises and extinguish the flames. Check the specifications of any fire and security safe you are thinking of buying to find out how long it might last in this eventuality.
Does my business need to worry about its fire risk?
You never know what may happen so it’s always best to be prepared for every eventuality, as far as possible. In the UK, the fire risk in different locations varies depending on the time of year and the weather conditions in the surrounding area.
Natural England has a live map that displays the fire risk for different parts of the UK at any given time. It uses a simple colour-coded system so you can see at a glance how high the risk of a fire is where you’re based.
However, the most common cause of fires in businesses in the UK is arson. It’s therefore essential that you consider the possibility that your business could be a target, while understanding that many arson attacks are opportunistic rather than planned.
What’s more, data from the London Fire Brigade shows that 60 per cent of businesses that suffer a fire at their premises never recover. This is why it’s important to look not only at mitigation strategies like fire and security safes, but also at your broader building security.
Consider what you can do to deter anyone from committing an arson attack in the first place, including having CCTV, security lights and appropriate locks to prevent anyone from gaining access to your site or building without your permission.
Also make sure your staff know what to do if they see anyone acting suspiciously around your premises. As we move into winter in the UK, which means darker mornings and evenings, crime rates tend to increase so think about how you can keep both your business and your team safe at this time of year.
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