Laundry room fire risks
By David Waters, Managing Director CHIS and PrimeCare Insurance
October 19, 2011
Most laundry rooms are kept immaculately clean and neat, but every now and again, the system seems to breakdown.
This is usually when the laundry supervisor is either on holiday or off sick. Sickness tends to be the worst of the two as typically no plans are in place for anyone to take on the temporary responsibility.
Insurers often find laundry room fires are started by lint (fluff) building up behind washing machines - the heat from the washing machines and dryers eventually ignite the lint and the laundry room burns down.
Another major cause of laundry fires is arson, as they are frequently unoccupied overnight and in some cases, over the weekend too.
We had a client with a disgruntled employee who returned at night expecting the room to be deserted and targeted the laundry. Having liberally splashed fuel around and into most of the machines, he then started the dryers, one of which ignited almost immediately.
The net effect was some £125,000 damage, a further £50,000 in business interruption costs (as the laundry had to be sent to an external laundry service at considerable extra cost) and an employee who was so badly burned he had to spend nine days in hospital.
At the time of writing, we do not yet know of the outcome as the courts were adjudicating this matter.
Due to the risks inherent in laundry rooms it is important to supervise, monitor and secure these facilities at all times.
Fires can be devastating as well as impacting on that feeling of safety for all, especially the residents of your home. It is worth remembering that insurance can simply reinstate the financial position you were in before the damage.