Key Topics Fire Industries Industry & Commerce Insurance Policies Business & Property

"A trained workforce is the best preventative measure in fire safety"

It is an undeniable nightmare when your private or business property goes up in flames. Often, the buildings, facilities and objects involved are irreparably damaged afterwards, whether it be from the fire, the smoke or the extinguishing foam. This makes it all the more important to protect yourself financially against these types of risks with the right insurance coverage. In the interview with our risk consultant Lukas Hager, you can learn how this works and what people can do preventively against fire and burning accidents.

BILD

The graduate fire protection engineer has been part of the deas team as a risk consultant since February 2024. Even before that, he worked in the field of fire protection and insurance fire protection. In addition, the 30-year-old has been an active member of the volunteer fire department since he was a teenager.

1. Mr. Hager, what exactly is your main area of work at deas?

As a risk consultant, my job is to visit customers together with other colleagues and inspect their sites, buildings and facilities with regard to fire and business interruption risks. We have the same interests as our customers: we want to identify weak points and protect the business against fire and fire risks so that no damage can occur in the first place. During our inspection, we also inform the customer about the requirements of the insurers. After the inspection, we write a report that contains recommendations for action, which the customer ideally implements before we proceed to the next step of tendering the fire and business interruption insurance. However, our work does not end once the customer has taken out their individual insurance policies. We also support our customers with any insurance-related expansion and conversion work.

2. To what extent does your work with the fire department influence your view of the circumstances at customer appointments?

Thanks to my experience as a volunteer firefighter, I have a completely different perspective. I first see the big picture and then go into more and more detail. This is what is known as a “cube view”, which enables me to assess the situation in a few seconds and filter out and select the important things. When I'm meeting with customers, there's usually no fire – of course it's different when I'm called in to deal with an emergency, where every second counts and I have to quickly grasp the situation under enormous time pressure. But even without an actual fire, my view of the company is influenced by this method.

3. What specific risks do you repeatedly see that people – without an expert background – don't notice?

In particular, there are many organizational issues that arise from habit or convenience, which is a very human trait. In the world of insurance, however, we have to keep an eye out for these. Such risks include fire extinguishers that are inaccessible because they are covered by boxes, covered electrical appliances, or appliances that are left plugged into sockets even though they have not been used for weeks. These risks are certainly rather small, but they can be avoided, which is why we point out these deficiencies to customers. In addition, these things can represent fire protection deficiencies for the insurance companies. This often applies in general to makeshift solutions that people come up with for practical reasons. For example, I once saw a work table in the middle of a hall to which the power cables were lowered vertically from the ceiling and stuck together with gaffer tape. This is a risk because electricity generates heat. Gluing cables together in this way is not a safe solution.

4. What useful tips can you give decision-makers for active risk management?

Those responsible for fire protection should make sure that the distance to a fire extinguisher is no more than 20 meters. Good prevention work is particularly important. The workforce should be made aware of the issue through regular fire protection training and instruction. This can help to avoid mistakes during operation. Human error, especially when caused by ignorance, is a major risk factor when it comes to fires breaking out. If a company involves its employees in the protective measures, people automatically pay more attention to certain things, such as the accessibility of fire extinguishers.

5. A brief aside: time and again, the media report on electric cars catching fire in underground car parks. What is your view on this?

There are two major problems here. Firstly, there is a lot of smoke in underground car parks. Of course, the fire brigade is prepared for such an eventuality, but the situation makes it difficult for the firefighters to get ahead. Secondly, electric cars are generally difficult to extinguish. When they burn, lithium-ion batteries produce oxygen and can therefore ignite repeatedly. That's why e-cars are placed in a water container for 24 hours to prevent the fire from reigniting. Of course, this is not feasible with the water container in underground garages. The vehicle must first be transported out of the garage – but this is a huge effort because the wheels of the vehicles are blocked without electricity and cannot be moved. So the e-cars have to be supported with small rollers and pushed out. For the batteries, there are so-called spearheads, from which water comes out at the front, which the fire brigade rams into the batteries. This works, but it is very cumbersome. In addition, such fires often cause damage in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle, for example to surrounding cars, but possibly also to the structure of the underground car park.

6. Do you also consider wall boxes in underground car parks to be a hazard?

Wall boxes are not a major problem. There is not much burning and they can easily be extinguished in the event of a fire. However, if a customer wants to set up charging stations on their premises, we recommend keeping a sufficient distance from buildings and facilities. This way, potential fires, whether in vehicles or wall boxes, cannot spread to the buildings.

7. Do you think that structural changes need to be made to parking garages to make firefighting easier?

It would certainly be helpful if the fire department could maneuver the vehicles out more easily. Because a major problem is the entrances, which are usually very narrow. There are currently no clear guidelines for structural changes, such as the installation of wall boxes – not even from the insurance companies. The GDV has published a leaflet on the installation of charging stations in garages, which some risk carriers refer to in their contracts. However, the issue of e-cars and wallboxes in underground garages should not be overdramatized. While it is true that extinguishing a battery fire is more complicated than extinguishing a conventional combustion engine, there are no reliable figures to suggest that vehicles with electric drives catch fire more often than those with other types of drives.