How To Proactively Prevent Arson at Work

The other morning I was driving down the A64 in Leeds, inching forward in bumper-to-bumper traffic. “Why is there so much traffic?” I asked myself, impatiently. “I bet somebody was driving like a loon and had an accident,” I continued, rolling my eyes.

As we inched along, black smoke appeared up ahead on the other side of the road, billowing out of a fish and chip shop. Like me, everybody was slowing down to get a proper look!

Everyone is fascinated by fire. Humans are literal pyromaniacs. “Man’s first TV!” I’ve heard it be called.

According to Government statistics, around 17% of all workplace fires are started by arson. In 2022/2023 there were 7649 workplace fires, of which 1300 were started deliberately.

When we look at the number of workplace fires, the majority of them are not caused by smoking, electrical faults, or welding. The leading cause is arson: people deliberately setting fire to workplaces. We associate arson with mindless acts of teenage vandalism; the excitement of seeing the fire brigade called out. But there are two more common reasons why somebody might deliberately set fire to a workplace:

1. For an insurance claim. The business is going under and the easiest way to do it is just to set fire to it because you can claim on the insurance. 

2. A disgruntled employee (or former employee) who wants to get back at the company

Most fires start at night, or at time of day when there is conveniently nobody in the building. Why? Well the aim is just to cause damage, not to kill people. 

I passed the chip shop fire at 10AM, which statistically increases the chances of arson. Most chip shops don’t open until the afternoon, so the morning would be a ‘convenient’ time for a fire.

Let me give you another example… 

On the evening of Monday 18th June 2007, the fire brigade was called out to a fire at the Gatecrasher One nightclub in Sheffield. According to police, only a small number of managers were in the building, all of whom were safely evacuated. The building was subsequently declared unsalvageable and demolished, along with a substantial insurance claim. The site today has been redeveloped into student accommodation.

Let me ask: do you smell a rat? 

I’m sure it’s possible that the DJ booth erupted into flame, unassisted. But it seems more likely that the fire was started deliberately, especially given that the club didn’t have a dedicated smoking area. (The indoor smoking ban came into force in England on 1st July 2007).

Step 1: Consider Motive

All of this is of course speculation: we can only surmise why these fires started. But other than insurance claims, the first question to ask is: were any employees known to be disgruntled? Then next, why might an employee be disgruntled? 

Usually, a fire-starting employee will be unhappy with the working conditions. Perhaps they aren’t being recognised for the work that they do. Maybe they’ve been overlooked or feel unheard. These things are often to do with communication or a sense of injustice.

People may be unhappy at work because they're worried. Perhaps there’s a stressful, toxic environment, and an individual has reached breaking point. (Burning the building at least means they won’t be coming to work tomorrow!)

Perhaps they’ve been asked to do unsafe things. Perhaps they’re required to do things they're not trained to do. Maybe they’re being bullied by a colleague, or group of colleagues. Maybe they have a fear of being ridiculed because they need guidance and are scared to ask for it. All of this makes a very stressful working situation. 

The root causes are always management failures because management hasn't done what they should do to look after their employees. Setting fire to a building is an extreme response, but people who feel trapped can resort to such measures. 

Few workplaces have obvious fire hazards such as exposed wires. So the root cause solution to preventing fires is to make sure people are happy. Like with everything in Health and Safety, prevention is better than cure! If somebody is unhappy you need to make it your business to know about it.

2. Make Sure People Are Happy

So, how do you make sure that people are happy at work? (Besides sending them on a SafetyNow training course?)

Well if you have somebody at work who is unhappy, it could be that something outside of work is affecting them inside of work. It could be money worries. It could be children worries. In my case, it's worries about my mother! 

People bring these issues to work so the question is: how do you deal with them? What kind of support can you give to somebody who's a good employee? How can you support them?

I’ve seen cases where people have been given extra responsibilities, perhaps at short notice, without being given training, mentorship or support. We’ve all known people who have ‘come off the tools’ but turn out to be terrible managers. 

While there may be some round pegs in square holes, in my experience this usually comes down to a lack of training. They aren’t given the tools to do their new job properly, which multiplies the stress they feel at work. Perhaps they feel they can’t say no to the role, as they need the extra money. “Jill isn’t the person we used to know!” people complain. Yes, because Jill hasn’t been given the right tools to do her job properly! 

The solution to arson lies in a more caring, proactive approach. The more training and consultation you provide, the fewer problems you’ll have.

Many people I train are doing IOSH and they're already giving advice and writing risk assessments. They've already been thrown into the role of health and safety at work, but they haven't been given the knowledge to make those correct decisions. So even though the company has done the right thing and put them on a course, they should have put them on the course before they gave them those responsibilities. Which to me feels like playing with fire a bit! 

Effectively they’ve said, “Right, we need somebody to do health and safety! You look like the right person. Here's a manual. Here are some policies. Go and implement them please. The deadline is Friday…” 

Suddenly some poor soul has been thrown in at the deep end. They’ve got the responsibility but not the knowledge to give the right advice.

So when you decide to promote somebody, whether it’s an operator to a team leader or a team leader to a manager, remember you’re putting somebody in charge of something totally different to their previous role. Good Health & Safety is about ensuring they've got the right training and knowledge to do their job effectively so they're not put under this additional stress.

By the way, if you would like to save a little on your training costs, the SafetyNow Birthday Sale is coming to an end. SafetyNow is now 10 years old. To celebrate, I’m offering 10% off all 2024 course bookings where the course enquiry was made before 30th June. (I will extend a little leeway if you need it!)

You can browse all our courses at www.safety-now.co.uk. Complete the relevant form and we’ll go from there. You can also sign up to the SafetyNow Bullet email list from that page.

Moira

P.S. Check out my previous article Why You Can't Insure Against Prosecution.