CE Safety have collected data which reveals the number of fires in buildings under construction, as well as how many fires were caused by hot work in the UK in the past year.
They questioned all 45 of the UK’s fire and rescue services via Freedom of Information Requests.
• There were 309 fires in total in buildings undergoing renovations
• Fires caused by *hot work accounted for 16% of all fires in buildings under construction (52)
• London (84), Merseyside (19) and Scotland (19) had the most fires (in buildings under construction)
• The regions with most hot work fires were London (5), Derbyshire (5), South Yorkshire (4), West Midland (4) and Scotland (4)
• Costs of hot work fires over the past decade have resulted in total losses of about £69.8m [Zurich]
• The total number of construction fires were higher than the previous year (204), despite the downtime in trade during the pandemic
Gary Ellis, hot work permit training specialist from CE Safety, said: “There is no doubt that most hot work fires are caused by negligence and oversight, usually down to a failure to train properly or manage projects effectively and safely.
“Every year we see fires in construction in regions of the UK, and most fire and rescue services have at least one hot work fire to tackle. They are dangerous, can cause injury and ruin projects, not to mention extremely costly. Ultimately though, they are avoidable. More vigilance is vital.”
*Hot work is the application of heat, flames, sparks, high temperatures and electricals. It is administered via welding, soldering, cutting equipment, blow torches and similar machinery.
