Fighting the fire hazard

At a time of soaring labour costs, price controls, dividend restraint and a host of other economic problems, fire prevention and control is an issue which management might be tempted to push down the priority list. Yet a glance at the staggering increase in fire damage costs provides a forceful reminder that this is a hazard which companies ignore at their peril. Apart from the human dangers, a full‐scale blaze can achieve in a matter of hours what adverse trading conditions may have failed to do over months or years — put you out of business. Here, in a comprehensive guide to fire prevention and control, specialists report on aspects ranging from insurance to equipment. But the underlying theme is the same: that with a little more thought and care, multi‐million pound investments could literally be prevented from going up in smoke.