Several organisations are supporting major UK insurers who have urged the government to pass stricter fire safety laws.
Fourteen groups have backed the Association of British Insurers’ (ABI) proposal to modernise fire prevention rules by requiring more high-risk buildings to install sprinklers.
The ABI wants compulsory sprinkler installation in new warehouses over 2,000 square metres as well as schools and care homes to help prevent major and potentially deadly fires.
Major fire brigades and fire prevention bodies who have added their names to the ABI call include the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, London Fire Brigade, West Midlands Fire Service, Arson Prevention Forum, Chief Fire Officers Association, Fire Protection Association, Fire Sector Federation and Worshipful Company of Firefighters.
Other signatories include the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association, British Damage Management Association, Business Sprinkler Alliance, Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters and National Fire Sprinkler Network.
Mark Shepherd, ABI manager of general insurance policy, said that it’s high time for Britain to modernise fire safety and prevention 350 years after the Great London Fire.
“A blaze on the scale of the Great Fire of London may never be seen again, but there is a lot more that should be done to prevent and minimise the fires that do happen,” Shepherd said.
“We know sprinklers are particularly effective at reducing the risks posed by fire so the time has come to start requiring them in certain buildings,” he added.
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