Thiess takes steps to reduce its environmental impact with upgraded firefighting equipment
As businesses nationwide take steps to make their operations more sustainable and environmentally friendly from top to bottom, Thiess has made an immediate change for the better by adopting environmentally friendly firefighting foams across its operations.
Laying the foundation for fire safety
As one of Australia’s largest mining services providers, Thiess recognises the importance of having fire equipment installed across its sites that is fit-for-purpose and designed to address specific hazards encountered on mine sites, such as electrical, mechanical, and vehicle fires. To ensure its sites remain safe and operational, Thiess has been working with Wormald since 2014 to deliver a range of fire protection products, solutions, and services across its Australian sites including passive fire protection and vehicle fire suppression systems.
When the Queensland Government announced the introduction of a new Environmental Management of Firefighting Foam Policy in 2016 —which mandated the phase out of fluorinated foams including Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) and Film-Forming Fluoroprotein Foam (FFFP) by 2019—Thiess knew it was time to replace its firefighting foam with a more environmentally friendly solution across all its sites nationally.
With the support of Wormald, and following an extensive assessment process, Thiess implemented a fast-tracked, approved solution—Freedol SF—that met Australian Standards AS5062 by 2017, two years before the deadline. Working with Wormald, it converted its systems across numerous vehicle and machinery fleets, including water carts and other mobile equipment, with minimal disruption toits operations and without impacting its fire hazard mitigation requirements.
Lessons for environmentally friendly fire safety solutions
Thiess is just one example of Australian businesses making the move towards more environmentally friendly fire safety solutions to align with changing legislation. As more states align with Queensland’s initiative, savvy businesses will be best to pivot their fire safety solutions sooner, rather than later.
However, upgrading an entire fire safety solution isn’t as simple as it seems, and requires considerable thought ahead of making the shift. At its core, implementing compliant solutions that meet environmental regulations and legislation is critical. But, for the best results, it’s important to make sure you have a holistic view of your current system—so you know what needs to be upgraded, where, and when—and you have a fully-prepared team that knows how to use new systems if and when they need to.
Working with dedicated fire safety experts and specialists is the best way to upgrade your fire safety solutions and remain compliant and protected year-round. To support Thiess, Wormald worked with suppliers in Europe to ensure a Freedol SF foam solution, that was tested in accordance with AS5062 requirements, was approved for use on all Wormald vehicle fire suppression systems and other fire equipment years ahead of the 2019 deadline.
Wormald is committed to delivering the best fire safety solutions available to its customers. For more information on how Wormald can help your business upgrade its fire safety systems to keep compliant and contribute to more environmentally friendly practices, contact the team today.
