How do you find out what will happen if a warehouse full of highly combustible material ignites? Set it on fire!

Of course, setting fire to the actual warehouse has a significant downside. But there are circumstances where, despite the most sophisticated computer modeling in the world, the only way to really understand what's going to happen is to run a large-scale fire test.

UL: A Century of Safety Standards and Service

That's where Underwriters Laboratories (UL) comes in. Established more than 100 years ago to provide certification of electrical equipment, UL now delivers a range of services to large clients around the globe, including Global 1,000 food producers, pharmaceutical companies, major retailers and industrial product manufacturers. Among its services are commodity risk classification and large-scale fire tests.

"One of the challenges that the insurance industry faces," says Chris Hasbrook, vice president and general manager, Global Fire and Security Sector at UL, "is that when presented with unusual risks, insurers will tend to the conservative side. That can mean that the client ends up paying more than they should, just because there are no sensible benchmarks for insurers to compare them with."

WAXING CAUTIOUS FOR CANDLE MAKER, BLYTH CORPORATION

Take Blyth Corporation, for example. A manufacturer of candles for home use, Blyth and its insurer had questions about potential financial losses due to fire in a Blyth warehouse filled with combustible candle-making material. UL built a 1:1 full-scale replica of the storage racks found within the warehouse, complete with the ceiling-based sprinkler system, all within UL's world-class fire-research facility in Northbrook, Illinois. Together, Blyth and UL filled the storage racks in the test laboratory with the same combination of candle materials found in Blyth's warehouse, and ignited one box at the bottom of the central storage rack. The result was a pleasant surprise for the insurer and for Blyth, as the sprinkler system limited the damage caused by the fire to a level well below what they had anticipated. As a result, Blyth was able to justify a reduction in its insurance premiums and provide assurance to its neighbors in the community about the safety of the building.

"It's not just about reducing premiums, though," Hasbrook says. "Above all, we're looking to improve life safety and help reduce property loss, and to establish accurately what could happen in a worst-case scenario in each specific case in which we are engaged. Sometimes a worst case is actually even worse than the client thought; this discovery allows them to take appropriate preventive measures."

Anheuser-Busch, another client, worked with UL and Aon to classify plastic and wooden pallets used to move products and ship its goods in dozens of facilities. UL and Anheuser-Busch replicated the conditions found in its operating facilities, and ignited shipments of pallet products for its tests. As a result, Anheuser-Busch gained detailed knowledge about fire-safety risks associated with commodities classification in its facilities, as well as the proper selection of fire sprinklers.

SUPPLY-CHAIN SAFETY

In these days of outsourcing and supply-chain optimization, the biggest risk may not lie within your own controlled operations. UL is increasingly working for clients along the length of their supply chains, understanding holistically where the weak points and highest risks lie.

But it's not all about setting fire to replica warehouses. UL's roots in electrical certification mean that it is the leading authority on developing standards that are used for certification, research and testing around the globe. That's good news for consumers and manufacturers alike.

Consumers benefit from the added safety that certification to UL standards provides. In the United States, for example, the average person will have effectively used 100 products certified by UL by the time he or she leaves the house in the morning. For manufacturers, the benefits come from knowing that their products comply with rigorous independent standards that are nationally recognized.