One of the leading causes of fires in shops and retail premises is as a result of arson, and it is well known that many businesses struggle to recover from a significant fire. Reducing the risk from arson is something that businesses should be considering when looking to protect both people and property. This advice and guidance article details some of the ways you can reduce the risk of arson to your property.
How can you reduce the risk from arson?
The first step in reducing the risk of arson is to complete a simple fire risk assessment to assess the fire hazards currently posed to your business. For example, this could be that there are combustible or other flammable materials piled near the premises that potential arsonists could target to start a fire.
Once a fire risk assessment has identified all the hazards to your business, you should ensure that fire extinguishers are serviced and ready to use, fire escape doors are unlocked and clear, and that there is no fire door wedged open, to ensure safety in the case of any arson attacks.
When it comes to reducing the risk of arson, we can firstly look at the security measures of your business. Consider investing in some security systems such as CCTV, intruder alarms, and security lighting to ward off potential arsonists. You should make sure to keep key entry points to your premises secure, including areas such as garages, perimeter walls, fences, and gates. This includes completing any repairs needed on key entry points in a quick and timely manner. You should also ensure that flammable substances are stored and locked away from reach in a safe and secure location, not out in the open and away from public eye.
This should all be paired with a comprehensive procedure for the end of the working day too. Staff should be trained to follow procedures such as locking all external doors and windows, closing all internal doors, checking that there are no unauthorised people left on the premises, maintaining good housekeeping standards of storage areas and waste containers, and ensuring that security lighting, alarms, and CCTV are switched on. Staff should also report any suspicious activity to the responsible person to alert the relevant authorities.
Other general ways you can protect against arson is to ensure that waste containers are only put out on collection day and are not left exposed during the rest of the week, especially over weekends. Waste should not be stored in escape routes such as corridors and stair wells, and bin stores should remain secure and well lit. Any skips and recycling containers should be stored a safe distance away from the external walls of the building, and collections should be arranged as frequently as necessary to avoid them overflowing.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of preventative measures, but rather some simple suggestions for protecting against the risk of arson. Arson prevention should form part of your wider fire risk assessment.
The FPA’s Prevention and Control of Arson handbook, and other fire safety handbooks, can be purchased here. All handbooks are freely available to FPA Members in the exclusive Members’ Area. Find out more about becoming a member here.
Please be aware that considerable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within this article at the time of publication, however any legislative (or other) changes that come into effect after this may render the information out of date until it is reviewed and updated as part of the FPA’s content review cycle.