Fire protection engineering

Fires cause an estimated £12 billion annually in the U.K alone with total losses in the manufacturing sector exceeding £800 billion, according to the Fire Industry Association. U.K. businesses made fire property claims of around £940 million annually

As a result, organisations have a strong need for fire and explosion risk assessment and fire surveys. Greater demands for aggressive environmental liability management, stricter insurance requirements, and new technological advances for processing and warehousing, all increase the need to adeptly manage their exposure to these risks.

Fire protection engineering is a process by which risk engineers perform comprehensive analysis of facilities, equipment, and processes to identify potential fire hazards and provide in-depth recommendations to diminish their risk. Global Risk Consultants Corp. | A company of TÜV SÜD Group provides sound, cost-effective fire protection inspection and analysis services to some of the world’s most successful businesses. Our fire protection engineering and fire survey expertise combines the principles of science and engineering to protect businesses and their people from the damaging impacts of fire and smoke.

Companies of all sizes in all industries have some fire risks. Major culprits include electrical distribution, lighting equipment, combustible dust, flammable liquids, and hot work. Depending on the industry and processes, some companies are at much higher risk than others. Fire can destroy property, injure workers, and lead to business interruption.

With so many varied hazards, preventing fire has become a top priority for businesses. Risk managers are turning to fire protection engineering and fire and explosion risk assessment services to reduce property damage risk, ensure business continuity, and showcase to underwriters that they are serious about fire protection.

A fire survey can help risk managers develop unique fire protection plans that can keep your facility safe. When done correctly, fire and explosion risk assessment and mitigation have a direct impact on risk selection and pricing.

GRC’s fire risk engineers specialise in specific industries such as food-and-beverage, mining, manufacturing, automotive, semiconductors, power generation, pharmaceuticals, or wood pulp and paper.

Some have tactical specialisations such as the ability to use infrared cameras to identify fire hazards invisible to the naked eye. Others have expertise in fire science, fire safety, fire/building codes, evaluation of architectural designs, fire suppression systems, or alarms.

Our worldwide staff of engineers have pioneered advances in fire protection by applying their in-depth expertise to develop new methods to address today’s escalating concerns. Some have even been instrumental in writing NFPA standards.

We work with major insurance organisations, the engineering staff of global brokers, and the engineering departments of major industrial firms. Clients have consistently said that our fire risk engineers are exceptionally knowledgeable and provide first-rate service.

Fire protection engineering services from GRC include desktop and onsite examinations of electrical systems, equipment, fire protection systems, fire alarms, process safety measures, human element programs, boilers, combustible dust hazards, and more.

We perform thousands of inspections each year, varying on the unique property risk engineering requirements of our clients. They range from basic property analysis, reviews and short summary reports, to full “HPR (Highly Protected Risk)”-style inspections in which all protective equipment is operationally tested. We issue detailed narrative-style reports with COPE (i.e. construction, occupancy, protection, exposures) data supplements. With our help, you can develop a custom-tailored Fire Loss Prevention Service Plan.

During a fire or explosion risk assessment, risk engineers analyse your processes to determine which has the highest hazard potential. They examine equipment for failure and ensure that sprinkler systems and fire alarms can mitigate damage and alert workers of any dangers.

When we conduct fire surveys, we assure:

• Fire reports containing information on natural hazards and climate change. Client directs activities and owns all information collected (i.e., we report only to you).
• Independent analysis and consideration of industry-accepted solutions.
• Universal underwriter acceptance of work product (LE’s, MFL’s, and COPE).
• Information on how natural hazards and climate change impact fire risks.
• Global HPR staff with knowledge of codes, cultures, and languages.
• Ability to integrate other services to mitigate and/or eliminate property risk exposures.
• Multilingual materials to support global human elements programs.
• Servicing consistency second to none.