Written by Clint Aird – Manager, Food & Beverage

A great deal of focus is placed on throughput, capacities and return on investment timeframes. Often, one of the lesser considerations is that of asset protection and business continuity.

Whatever the scenario, it’s important that your facility, whether refurbished, extended or newly built that allows you the peace of mind to be protected should there be a fire. Occupant safety is naturally of the utmost importance, but disaster scenario and recovery plans are critical to business continuity after a fire.

Fire can be a common hazard in a food or beverage facility, given the mixture of equipment, power, water, heat and chemicals encased in a space that often runs 24-hours a day. Understanding fire hazard properties and the behaviour of building materials is critical in a fire scenario – recent issues with combustible cladding emphasise this.

Burn-out, malfunction or a surge in power can cause millions of damage to a building, injure workers or animals, affect production to your business and cause devastation to communities through loss or interrupted work.

So what do you need to consider?

The best course is to liaise with your insurer to manage the costs for today and into the future. You can reduce your insurance costs by:

  • Understanding what standards are required for your facility (eg IPCA, FM Global)
  • Scenario planning around potential incidents and how your building might respond
  • Having appropriate fire protection systems in place including those for early detection

Whether you are reviewing, updating or building new, you are able to consider material selection, appropriate fire protection and detection systems, scenario planning, global standards and building codes in the easiest way possible by engaging experts in your industry. Insurance and loss prevention costs should be considered as a part of the Whole of Life (WOL) costs of your asset, just as you would energy and labour when preparing your business case.

Our team is able to work with you to identify risks to your building. We can then use our expertise in the food and beverage industry to work between you and your insurer to achieve the most cost effective capital expenditure while mitigating your risk.

We have extensive experience in master-planning, development of fire strategies and material selection – thus allowing us to create solutions that suit both your operations, your budget and your insurer. Our ability to provide alternative solutions to meet building codes and regulations to match your budget in this niche area will exceed any insurers standard ‘deemed to satisfy’ list.

We have worked with clients following the devastation of a fire and those who are mitigating the risk of fire to their facility.

If you would like advice on your options, contact me for an obligation free discussion.