The Association of British Insurers (ABI) stated that fire was one of the most expensive insurance claims. In 2018 £1.3 billion was paid out to policy holders. The costs associated with the Deepwater Horizon fire and explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 were estimated at $65 billion, with over $6 billion of this estimated to be insured losses. It can be an advantage, when reporting to shareholders, to express Fire Safety Management as a business objective, much in the way of continuous improvement and similar objectives. Fire Safety Management (and other health and safety disciplines) expressed in such terms can then be budgeted for and seen as an aspect of company profit and loss. Financial Implications of false alarms A false alarm can be defined as an event in which the fire and rescue services believes they are called to a reportable fire and then find there is no such incident. False alarms bring financial implications, with possible penalties being imposed upon the organisation by the attending fire and rescue service, if they are activating frequently and falsely. The business interruption of the organisation can result in loss of production, trade, missed deadlines and therefore penalties being implemented. This may lead to an increase of pressure upon the employees to work harder and faster which could result in an increased risk of accidents occurring. False alarms may be a result of a deliberate and false nature and can result in the person (if identified) having legal action taken against them which may result in a fine being imposed, or even a custodial sentence. Attending false alarms costs fire services millions of pounds every year and understandably every brigade wants its fire fighters to be available to attend genuine emergencies rather than numerous false alarms which are not only wasteful on the resources of fire brigades, but also cause disruption and financial losses to business due to unexpected evacuations.
©SHEilds – All rights reserved FC V7 JUN 2021
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