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Good practice: reducing the risk of arson

One of the most serious fire risks a health and safety professional can face is the risk of fires being started deliberately. Here, we take a look at some dos and don’ts that could reduce the risk of arson in your organisation.

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Each week in the UK, on average:

there are 2,213 arson attacks
arson kills two people
arson injures 53 people
twenty schools and colleges are damaged or destroyed by arson
three hundred and sixty businesses and public buildings are damaged or destroyed by arson.

The owner of a building, or the person responsible for health and safety in workplaces, has a legal responsibility to carry out a fire risk assessment. This includes identifying the risk of arson and acting to reduce it. In recent issues, Connect has published a five-part guide to fire risk assessments which might be helpful to you.

The threat of arson

The Fire Protection Association (FPA) says that arson has become the single most frequent cause of fire in buildings of all kinds, and results in:

loss of life
injuries
property losses
business interruption
loss of jobs
loss of business and goodwill among suppliers
damage to the environment
loss of heritage buildings
poor image and reputation for the organisation involved.

One of the biggest problems is the public perception of arson, says Adair Lewis from the FPA. “The man in the street tends to think of arson as a crime against property and, therefore, not a problem – after all, the insurer will pay! But this means that we all pay, as a result of increased insurance premiums.”

The cost of arson

It’s estimated that property damage caused by arson costs insurers more than £1 million a day, and uninsured losses increase this cost considerably. A survey of serious arson fires revealed that in 2006 nearly 23 per cent of the annual direct losses due to fire were the result of just 103 arson attacks. “Experience suggests that it’s quite common for a very small number of serious fires to distort the annual statistics,” says Adair. “In addition to these fires where there’s sufficient evidence to prove that they have been started deliberately, in 2006 there were a further 65 fires costing nearly £56 million where the cause was recorded as unknown or under investigation. The scale and intensity of these indicates that many of them will also have been started deliberately.”

Arson fires tend to be more costly than accidental fires because:

there are often multiple ‘seats’ of fire to make certain a serious fire occurs
the fires may be helped with flammable liquids
the fires may be lit at vulnerable points in a building
they may be lit at night or at other times when few people are about so that there’s a delay in calling the fire brigade
fire doors may be wedged open or attempts made to sabotage fire protection systems.

Risk assessment

An assessment of the threat from deliberate fire should always be done as part of the fire risk assessment in compliance with fire safety legislation. The scale of the threat may depend on the business you work for, the people the business employs and the area where the business is based. As well as a threat from the public, poor staff relations can often result in fires being deliberately started. All fires should be carefully investigated even if they appear at the outset to have been started deliberately.

Protection against arson isn’t just about installing expensive and elaborate security. Although suitable cost-effective security measures must be taken, the designers of the building and the management of the organisation that occupies it both have a part to play in eliminating opportunities for arson during day-to-day business.

There are several key points you should consider:

Think about the areas in the building where you think arsonists could break in and take steps to strengthen defences.
If there have been small fires on your own or neighbouring premises, inform the police immediately. A small fire could be a warning of something worse to come.
Outer fences, walls and gates need to be high enough and strong enough to keep out intruders.
Doors and windows must be in good repair and locked when not in use.
Use good quality locks and padlocks.
Gaps under doors should be as small as possible.
Letter boxes should have metal containers fitted on the inside of the door.
Keep a record of the key holders and always track down any keys that are missing.
Stored materials of any kind shouldn’t be stacked next to fences or walls where they could be set alight from the outside.
Warn staff of the threat and ask them to challenge anyone who shouldn’t be on the premises.
Vet new employees – check for any previous offences.
The movement of visitors in the building should be controlled.
Make sure fire fighting equipment, such as extinguishers, are in good working order and protected against sabotage attempts.
Make a series of ‘end of day’ checks such as making sure that doors and windows are secure and that no combustible materials are left lying around.

Our thanks to Adair Lewis from the Fire Protection Association for helping with this article.