The most common cause of fire in shops and retail premises is arson. Each year there are over 3,100 arson attacks on shops, cafes and small businesses. Arson claims cost over half (51%) of all insurance claims for businesses made in the last quarter of 2006 and the number of cases was further up by nearly 19% in the first half of 2007, which means that arson is an increasingly expensive problem for businesses. The average cost of a fire in commercial property in 2006 was  £44,000, with fires costing the national economy £7.03 billion every year.

 

 

Since the introduction of the new Fire Safety Law,  owners and managers of non-domestic premises are personally responsible for the fire safety of their premises. They are legally obliged to carry out the fire risk assessment of their premises and take measures to protect them from the known fire risks. They cannot delegate this responsibility down to the employees.

 

London Fire Brigade carries out around 14,000 fire inspections of premises in the capital each year. Last year breaches of the RRO cost London's landlords and premises owners more than £1 million in fines and payments, which shows how serious the courts are taking fire safety.

 

When carrying out the fire risk assessment do not overlook the letter box fitted in the front door because the risk of fire starting through the entrance door letter box (letterplate) is well known and identified by the insurance industry, Fire Brigade, Police service, Master Locksmiths Association, etc.

 

Source - The Home Office:

 

THE DIVERSE MOTIVES OF ARSONISTS, VANDALS AND CRIMINALS MEAN THAT NO HOME OR BUSINESS IS IMMUNE FROM AN ATTACK

 

In case of such accident there would be no excuse for the owners/managers if they have not exercised due diligence in fulfilling their duty and they are risking hefty fines, difficulty with the renewal of the insurance or even imprisonment. The insurance company can refuse the payout if it turns out that the mandatory legislation requirement was not met by the business.

If you are a consultant or risk assessor please note that the insufficient fire risk assessment is the feature of most persecution cases. In court hearings it is the customary line of defence to put the blame of the insufficient fire risk assessment on the consultant or risk assessor who carried out the fire risk assessment. So, there is no reason to overlook the letter box.

protecting the letter box is a practical, not moral choice for the owners and managers of non-domestic premises

 

Make sure that the letter box is protected against liquid inflammable, since it is more dangerous than the solid one because it gives out twice as much heat from the same mass and burns twice as fast. According to 2007 statistics 63% of losses from all deliberate ignition fires were from fires started by liquids. Fitting IdealGuard™ will resolve this problem.

The new Fire Safety Law is introduced for improving fire safety in the UK, not as a budget saving exercise. Because of the uncertainty, owners/managers  often fall into the trap of over-prescription of fire safety measures, at prohibitive cost to the business budget.

 

This feature alone makes fitting IdealGuard™ very good sense economically. So, fitting IdealGuard™ offers not only the safest solution, which helps operators of commercial and public premises to address their legal obligations to provide a safe place of work, but the solution, which is sustainable and cost-effective.

If your letter box is not properly protected, it does not make sense to carry on with taking risk and there is absolutely no need to base your existence on luck. Especially now, when there is an easily achievable and cost-effective solution provided by IdealGuard™ .