According to new research from insurer, Zurich Municipal, schools in England are “nearly twice as likely” to suffer from a fire as other types of commercial buildings.
Data was taken from 26,800 schools in England, with the analysis showing that the average fire risk is almost doubled than that of most other non-residential buildings. This is due to a number of reasons, believes Zurich Municipal:
- Two thirds lack adequate fixed fire protection measures (e.g. sprinklers)
- A quarter rated ‘poor’ for fire detection
- The regular presence of cooking equipment
- Malfunctioning equipment, faulty electrics and arson are the leading causes
- Sizes of the buildings (bigger and older schools were deemed to be more at risk)
These issues have resulted in nearly 2,000 school blazes in the last three years, and follows recent calls for sprinklers to be made mandatory in schools in England. Larger fires in schools cost on average £2.8 million to repair and in some cases over £20 million.
The findings have led Zurich to launch a parliamentary petition to urge MPs to change the law on sprinklers in schools. Whilst sprinklers are compulsory in all new or major refurbished school buildings in Scotland and Wales, this is not the case in England. In fact, they are fitted in fewer than one in six new schools, believes Zurich.
Tilden Watson, Zurich Municipal’s Head of Education, said: “An alarming number of school buildings pose a high fire risk – yet many are poorly protected against a potential blaze. Unless Ministers bring England into line with other parts of the UK, where sprinklers are mandatory, large fires will continue to blight schools. This is harming children’s education and putting lives at risk.
“As well as protecting pupils, sprinklers drastically reduce the extent of damage when there is a blaze, often confining the fire to a single room. This gets children back into schools and classrooms quicker as well as saving taxpayers’ money.”