Baker Greggs gets clever on fire safety
Baker and takeaway retailer Greggs will install a full version at its new Clydesmill factory in Cambuslang, Glasgow of what is believed to be the first commercial fire protection system able to extinguish burning plastic bakery trays. The plant opens next year.
Greggs has already installed the kit, which combines water and foam in a sprinkler unit, in high risk areas at its Balliol 2 site in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with a similar installation planned for its nearby Gosforth site.
The extinguishing system has cut the firm's estimated maximum losses and thus its insurance costs, said group engineering director Neill Hastie. However, it would not fit the system to other existing factories: "It would cost a fortune."
The system was the first able to extinguish burning trays, he said: "For years, all they could give us was fire suppression."
The move comes as health and safety firm Shieldyourself claimed that 76% of UK businesses were unprepared for new fire regulations that take effect at the start of October. The food industry lost £403M as a result of fires between January 2004 and June 2005.
Polypropylene plastic trays are a big fire risk in the food and drink sector because they are easily ignited and, once they become molten liquid, they cannot be extinguished with water. Greggs spent nearly three years looking for an extinguishing system, working with various suppliers. "Insurance experts say put sprinklers on, but they don't work with polypropylene," said Hastie.
The baker undertook trials with Tyco Fire & Integrated Solutions, which introduced fire-fighting foam into the sprinkler system. It claims to be able to extinguish a fire in two minutes with no re-ignition after a further one minute cooling discharge.
