Workplace fires break out tens of thousands of times a year, causing injuries, damage to property and even loss of life.
Through our fire safety courses, we are continuing to improve business’s understanding of this particular area of health and safety. Our commitment to this led us to analyse data from 46 regional fire and rescue services across England and Wales to see which areas were most at risk from workplace fires.
Between April 2015 and October 2018, over 5000 fires broke out in offices, warehouses and factories. Bedfordshire was discovered to be the nation’s most dangerous area, with the highest chance of a workplace fire at 0.65%. By contrast, West Sussex was the safest place in the country over this period, with only a 0.04% chance of its businesses requiring emergency fire services. Greater London was the country’s 9th safest place with a 0.14% risk, but suffered 602 office fires and 180 in warehouses and factories in this time – the most of any area, without adjustment for the much larger number of businesses in Greater London.
The top 10 most dangerous regions for fires in England and Wales were*:
- Bedfordshire (0.65%)
- Tyne and Wear (0.63%)
- Staffordshire (0.60%)
- Merseyside (0.53%)
- Northamptonshire (0.42%)
- Dorset & Wiltshire (0.41%)
- Humberside (0.39%)
- Derbyshire (0.38%)
- Cambridgeshire (0.38%)
- Devon and Somerset (0.36%)
The top 10 safest regions least likely for a business to catch fire were*:
- West Sussex (0.04%)
- Cheshire (0.06%)
- West Midlands (0.06%)
- Surrey (0.09%)
- Lancashire (0.10%)
- Hereford and Worcestershire (0.10%)
- Gloucestershire (0.12%)
- Norfolk (0.12%)
- Greater London (0.14%)
- Oxfordshire (0.14%)
Behind each of these fires is a story. Many of these will include the loss of people’s livelihoods, the destruction of property and stock, the closure of businesses and, in the worst cases, injuries and deaths. Workplace fires are a hazard none of us can afford to ignore – and as our survey shows, they can happen anywhere.
Just as with residential fires, workplace fires are almost always avoidable. Electrical devices are the most common cause, especially when they’re poorly installed or maintained. Fire safety is a vital issue that all employees need to be properly trained on to prevent these incidents in the future.
Fire Safety Training from DeltaNet International
Our Fire Safety suite of eLearning courses includes full-length and “Take 5” short courses.
Fire Safety Challenge uses the latest techniques in animation, interactivity and gamification to deliver a fun learning experience that people will retain easily.
Our fire safety e-learning teaches the causes of workplace fires, how to avoid them and what equipment to use, using our popular informational course style.
*Percentages were calculated using the number of fires in offices, warehouses and factories compared against the number of businesses in that region according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
For press and media enquiries relating to DeltaNet International’s National Fire Survey, please contact helen.wood@delta-net.co.uk
