Fire is one of the most serious threats to business operations. In manufacturing, the risks are especially high, fires can cause severe injuries, loss of life, and destroy custom-built machinery, leading to months of downtime and significant financial losses.

At Wormald, we understand the unique challenges faced by manufacturers. We work with businesses across Australia to strengthen fire safety protocols, support category managers in selecting and managing fire protection providers and empower plant managers to take ownership of daily fire safety procedures. As a result, we’re seeing real improvements in planning, compliance, and execution across manufacturing sites.

Key recommendations for manufacturing facilities

Wormald utilises seven key recommendations tailored specifically for facilities, helping them enhance fire safety and minimise risks:

1. Establish responsibility for fire safety: Clear systems and responsibilities must be established to ensure compliance with Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) obligations. Managers must exercise due diligence in implementing policies, procedures, and safety practices.
2. Understand legislative requirements: Compliance with national building codes, Australian Standards, and WHS regulations is crucial. These regulations mandate the minimisation of fire risks through proper maintenance of fire protection systems.
3. Conduct risk assessment: Thorough risk assessments are essential to identify fire hazards and implement appropriate fire protection solutions tailored to the manufacturing environment.
4. Install adequate fire protection solutions: From basic fire extinguishers to advanced systems like deluge and foam systems, choosing the right fire protection solution is critical based on site-specific requirements. Such requirements need to ensure that the fire load, operating environment and overall risk are factored in. Where necessary international standards and design criteria may be requirements from your insurance provider.
5. Regularly audit and maintain equipment: Ensuring the reliability of fire protection systems through regular internal audits and routine maintenance in accordance with Australian Standards (AS1851) is essential.
6. Revisit training and emergency response procedures: Continuous of personnel on fire response and evacuation procedures is crucial to minimising the impact of fire incidents and ensuring that your employees understand what their requirement is in a fire event.
7. Choose a reliable fire protection provider: Time is the biggest challenge facing manufacturers when it comes to fire safety. It can be difficult to find time to focus on fire protection and as a result, it can often be overlooked. Outsourcing fire protection to reputable providers will save time, while ensuring compliance with evolving regulations and standards, allowing manufacturers to focus on core operations.

How Wormald can help?

Fire safety is a shared responsibility. By following Wormald’s recommendations and partnering with us, manufacturers can protect their people, assets, and operations from the devastating impact of fire.