Sharjah's industrial area 'a fire hazard'

Sharjah: The Sharjah Industrial Area is a fire hazard where there are no proper fire prevention systems in place, risk managers and insurance companies said yesterday.

The number of fire accidents is also growing because most of the daily-wage workers at the factories are not trained to properly handle equipment, one insurer said.

Within the last 12 months the Oriental Insurance Company paid out Dh500 million in damages, according to S.P. Saxena, the company's general manager. "The volume of the loss [from fires] is very high compared to the size of the country," he said.

The UAE does not have an active insurers association that could provide guidelines to corporations and individual businessmen, another manager pointed out.

Umesh Gupta, resident manager of New India Assurance Company, said even where safety equipment is in place, the people are not trained to handle fire alarms.

"One company had water hose outlets inside the building, when it should have been outside," he said.

Industrial areas number one to seven were built about 30 years ago when the quality of construction of buildings was not as good, and the civil defence regulations were not as stringent as they are today, said Saxena.

The other problem is that various industries are grouped together in this massive industrial area and many are uninsured and cannot seek the expertise of risk managers who could point out the hazards and the steps to take to prevent fires.

One risk manager, who did not wish to be identified, said she first reviews the company's management. She then moves on to look at the structure and finally the nature of the business. "We usually try to avoid [insuring] furniture factories and plants where carpentry is involved," she said.

While insurance is not mandatory for most businesses, it is compulsory at the free zones, said Saxena. "The percentage of fires elsewhere is quite disturbing," he said.

Gupta said his company had also paid out huge claims last year, including Dh4.5 million for the fire at a paint factory in Sharjah.