Managing fire risk in your business

“Commercial fires in New Zealand are a big issue, increasing year-on-year, including a large number of call-outs to laundry fires,” says Pete Gallagher, National Advisor Fire Risk Management at Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

NZI’s Risk Consulting team visit thousands of businesses each year, helping manage their risks. When it comes to commercial fires, the team have found that many begin in the laundry with a common cause being spontaneous combustion. This occurs as a consequence of a chemical process called oxidation, which generates heat.

Spontaneous combustion is complex, but easily preventable. It can happen when freshly laundered materials are not completely dry before being packed tightly together for some time. The heat created from residual oil oxidising is unable to escape and continues to build on itself. This heat can continue to increase until the material reaches a high enough temperature to self-ignite, often hours after it was in the dryer.

Fortunately, there are some easy steps to minimise risk in your commercial laundry:

1. Use a hot wash to remove oil from fabric
2. Never skip your dryer’s cool down process
3. Allow fabric to cool completely prior to storage
4. Check and clear lint filters and ducting after each load