With warehouse fires costing the UK economy around £232m a year (BRE Global), mitigating fire risk is a key concern for many industries. The outbreak of a fire could result in costly damage to process plants and production facilities, operation downtime and loss of stock. The impact of fire damage cannot be contained to just the organisation either. As well as huge commercial losses, it can also cause multiple job losses and affect the wider supply chain.
Fire is recognised as the leading cause of commercial property damage and disruption, and its impact on, for example, the pharmaceutical sector can be devastating, as such facilities rely on round-the-clock production with little room for unscheduled downtime. In addition to the million pounds worth of damage, it can also seriously affect the reputation of a brand, and for those producing a high commodity product it could see suppliers move to competitors if their orders cannot be fulfilled, or worse still result in drug shortages.
The cleanroom is the centre of production for many pharmaceutical facilities, which means a robust fire prevention strategy is essential to avoid disruption to operations and downtime. However, electrical, utility and process equipment faults and the presence of flammable and explosive cleaning materials, combined with the constant supply of airflow and high levels of oxygen make the operational areas extremely flammable and allow fire to spread rapidly.
Not yet a Subscriber?
This is a small extract of the full article which is available ONLY to premium content subscribers. Click below to get premium content on Cleanroom Technology.
Subscribe now Already a subscriber? Sign in here.