The most frequent accidents that occur on industrial buildings in France according to the ARIA database on technological accidents[1] are :
Fires are observed in 60% of technological accidents in France. The socio-economic consequences can be disastrous for your company : matérial damage, loss of production, technical unemployement, uncertainty about the resumption of activity, etc. Although there is nos such thing as zero risk for your company, it is possible to put in place preventive measures. In this article, find out how :
3 elements are necessary to start a fire (the fire triangle) :
Many raw materials, packaging or processing aids (machine lubricants, glue cleaning agents, etc.) can burn or give off flammable vapours. Only inorganic materials and compounds (sand, concrete, salts, etc.) cannot burn. You must therefore provide storage areas adapted to your materials, and protect your components and your employees during processing stages that involve an open flame or produce sparks: grinding, welding, oxidising/cutting, etc.
The Eurocodes classify substances according to their fire behaviour (reaction and resistance), especially for building materials. Structural elements must be able to remain stable while people are evacuated.
The fire resistance of materials is assessed in relation to the time the building element performs its function :
Carelessness or particular operations on your industrial buildings can also cause a fire to start :
Make sure your employees and contractors are trained to ensure their own safety and the sustainability of your buildings and equipment.
Limiting fire risks is part of an overall approach to prevent industrial risks.
In this case, it consists of :
Risk situations are determined by the presence of the 3 components of the fire triangle: fuel, oxidizer and ignition source.
Determine the risks associated with the presence of combustible products in your premises :
Sources of ignition in your storage areas or workshops can be of various origins :
The results of the assessment must be included in the Single Document (DU), required by the Labour Code. The DU enables to draw up an action plan specific to your company according to the risks
identified, their frequency of occurrence, the exposure of your staff and your industrial buildings...
Isolate the hazardous areas of your premises
It is difficult to completely eliminate fuels in your industry without affecting the rate of production or the quality of the finished products. However, the national institute of research and security points out
certain risk areas that can be isolated from other premises :
Also pay attention to your electrical installations. When you open or close a circuit, an electric arc can occur. For humans it can cause burns ; for your installations it can cause fires or explosions (the phenomenon tears electrons from the atoms in the air and is accompanied by the projection of metal particles at more than 3,000°C).
By law, establishments with more than 50 people or that handle flammable materials must have an audible alarm. If your site is made up of several isolated industrial buildings, each one must be able to
trigger the general alarm separately. The alarm signal, distinct from the other alarms used in your company, must be heard from any point on your site during the evacuation, and have a minimum autonomy of 5 minutes (articles R232-12-18 and R235-4-16 of the Labour Code).
Similarly, you must establish and prominently display a fire instruction :
Similarly, you must establish and prominently display a fire instruction :
This instruction must include the following elements :
The partial or total destruction of your industrial buildings can have many negative consequences for your company :
According to the INRS, 70% of companies that suffer a major disaster close down in the months that follow. The risk of fire is a real danger and, in the event of a disaster, you must identify solutions to ensure the continuity of your activity. One solution to maintain your production rate is to set up temporary modular structures to host your production or storage area.
Locabri provides flexible and rapidly deployable modular solutions. Proludic SA called on Locabri solutions following a fire that destroyed 40% of its production workshops. In this case study, read Proludic's testimonial and find out how modular structures can be implemented on an industrial site :