FM Global has awarded its second annual International Codes and Standards Advocacy Award to Iain Cox, chair of the Business Sprinkler Alliance (BSA) and vice chair of the National Fire Sprinkler Network (NFSN).Cox, who retired from the fire service in 2013 after 34 years, was lauded for his commitment to promoting technical competence among fire safety professionals, the benefits of automatic fire sprinklers and the need to adapt building regulations to encourage, accommodate or mandate their use.
“At FM Global, we believe the majority of property loss is preventable, not inevitable,” said Thomas A Lawson, chairman and chief executive officer at the commercial property insurer.
“We applaud Mr Cox for going above and beyond his duties to promote, educate, and advocate the use of automatic fire sprinklers in industrial and commercial properties in the UK.”
Cox, whose final role in the fire service was as Chief Fire Officer of Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue Service, was awarded the Queen’s Fire Service medal in 2009. He also has a BSc in Physical Geography from the University of Reading and an MA in Management from Coventry University.
“As a serving fire officer, and as the national lead for the Chief Fire Officers Association on Fire Safety, I have seen the benefits that sprinkler protection can bring to business, communities and individuals,” he is quoted as saying on the BSA website. “Unfortunately I have also witnessed the devastation that is wrought by fire in unprotected premises.
“I sincerely believe that if more businesses understood the real benefits – and the true costs – of fire sprinklers, then more companies would install them.”
FM Global is a mutual insurance company which operates on the premise that most property loss is preventable. Representing one in three Fortune 1000 companies FM Global helps businesses understand the hazards that can undermine business continuity with a view to making cost-effective risk management decisions, informed by property loss prevention and insurance protection.
In the video below, filmed in the Sprinkler and Suppression Zone at FIREX 2019, Iain Cox talks compellingly about the much overlooked benefits of sprinklers and challenges some myths about their effectiveness that persist.
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