A normal day at the office! A not so common night at the office!
A bad morning at the office! A rather better morning at the office!
The data below shows the number of fire alarms received by the Rescue Service is Sweden during 2006.
| Fires in public buildings, e.g. retail, restaurants, hospitals and social care, schools etc | 2201 |
| Industry | 1180 |
| Other buildings | 958 |
| Total | 4339 |
Taken from table 2.02, the Rescue Service’s statistics.
More information is available from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB).
We do not recommend that you do so! The problem when buying a second-hand, fire-rated, cabinet is that you do not usually know how it has been handled previously. Because the actual protection in a fire-rated cabinet is not visible, since the insulation material is concealed, it is in reality impossible to promise that it is not damaged and, thereby, the protection is no more. Our general recommendation is not to buy a second-hand fire-rated cabinet, if you are not completely certain that the cabinet has been handled correctly. On the other hand, a burglary-resistance rated cabinet is not as sensitive and it is easier to see if anything has been damaged, so our general recommendation is that you can buy second-hand cabinets.
There is no clear answer to this question, but, if the cabinet is more than 20-25 years old, it has no doubt reached the end of its useful life. Of course, an old cabinet can also withstand a fire but, as is the way of the world, the insulation material changes and the protection deteriorates over time, making it impossible to say whether a 30-year-old cabinet will withstand a fire with the same degree of security as one that is 5-years-old!
Yes, in general, this is always enough! A fire can burn for many hours, but it cannot maintain the same temperature in the one and same place for 60 minutes, unless it is supplied with new energy or if there are extreme conditions prevailing at the site. Normally, it can be as hot as 1000° for a few minutes (10-15) in a room, because the combustion of the available energy is then very fast. The seat of the fire them moves on, allowing the temperature in the room where the cabinet is placed to fall.
Many people choose to protect the original documents firstly, because they think that they are the most important and are rather easy to identify. However, it is not usually how these are stored that is crucial for how a business survives a fire. The documents that are usually the most important to protect are the documents that we use daily in our workplaces. The more often they are used and handled, the more they will be missed following a fire. We call this "active work material", and this can be anything from a few simple notes in a pad to large dossiers and projects on which you work for a very long time.
The answer to this question, of course, should be yes; otherwise, there is no real reason at all to buy a fire-rated cabinet! The problem is that an abundance of cabinets are for sale that do not protect in a fire, going under names such as fire cabinet, flameproof cabinet, fire insulated cabinet, fire protection cabinet, DIN 4102 and so and so on. For a cabinet to be fire-rated and to protect documents during a fire, it must be fire-rated 60 P or higher in accordance with NT Fire.
There are many different versions of key cabinets. Everything from the simplest in wood and thin metal to real safes. In general, we recommend that theft-prone keys be stored in key cabinets with burglary resistance, Security Cabinet, in accordance with SS 3492. For example, our SN series, which you can read more about here...
Fire resistant cabinets exist because flammable liquids and aerosols ignite easily and burn violently! The whole purpose of using fire resistant cabinets is to separate the liquids and aerosols from a fire long enough for both customers and staff to evacuate the premises calmly and collected, the fire brigade to arrive and, thereby, also reduce the damage to property and premises.
Anti-theft cabinet
Anti-theft cabinets give some protection against attack and are used, for example, as storage cabinets in public spaces and suchlike. The cabinets must be tested and approved in accordance with SS 3492, class anti-theft cabinet 1 or 2. There are also fire-rated document cabinets that have been tested according to this method. Insurance companies do not accept the storage of cash in anti-theft cabinets.
Archive administrator
Person appointed to work practically with the archival activities
The authority with the task of exercising supervision of other authorities’ archives and archival activities and the right to takeover archives
Archive director
Director for the central archive without archivist training
Archive holder
The authority, company, association, another organisational unit or individual though whose activity an archive arises
Archive manager
The person who is formally responsible for the archival activities, for example, at an authority, organisation or company. The responsibility can be delegated.
Archive reporter
Person at the archive holder with the task of performing certain steps in the archival activities
Archive room
Fire-rated space/room that is built to protect, for example, documents against heat, water and smoke. The room must be constructed with structural fire cells, doors, fire dampers and smoke dampers, ventilation and exhaust air ducts as well as lead-throughs for pipes, cables and ventilation ducts. For government authorities, National Archives of Sweden class EI120 is required. This is also the archive standard that is used today when building archive rooms. There should be documentation on classified archives. Please consult the National Archives of Sweden’s regulation regarding archive rooms, RAFS 1997:3, for more stipulatory details.
Archives
The documents that have come into being in an archive holder’s activities and are archived with the aforementioned, i.e. all the documents the organisation handles and stores in the short or the long term
Archivist
Specialist in archival matters who has attended special archivist training. Usually, responsible both for the central archive and advice and instructions concerning the archival activities. In some cases, also carries out supervision.
Central archive
Archive for documents that are not asked for very often but, for historical or other reasons, must be kept. Can also be archived digitally.
Clear out
Removing and destroying documents/information in an archive, usually following established rules and procedures.
Continuity planning
To counteract interruptions in the organisation’s activities and to protect critical business processes against the effects of unforeseen serious disruptions or disasters. Among other things, this involves preparing plans for how the organisation’s activities will continue or restart with a reasonable time following an interruption or fault in critical business processes (in accordance with SS 62 77 99-2).
Current archive holding
Archive holding regarding documents in local and intermediate archives.
Data media cabinet/Diskette cabinet
Fire-rated data media cabinets have the purpose of protecting all versions of data media, magnetic tape and microfilm in a fire. Protecting data media requires greater protection than that required to protect paper. The cabinets must be tested and approved to class 60D/Diskette or 120D/Diskette in accordance with NT Fire 017 or equivalent.
Data media insert
Data media insert or diskette box is used as the name for an insert that, combined with a fire-rated document cabinet, provides protection for data media. The insert or box does not provide any protection when it is placed freely, instead, it must always be placed inside a cabinet, tested and approved for protecting paper in a fire. The diskette box or data media insert must be tested and approved to class 60D/Diskette or 120D/Diskette in accordance with NT Fire 017 or equivalent.
DIN 4102
The fact that a cabinet is tested in accordance with DIN 4102 does not say anything about how the cabinet will protect the contents during a fire. DIN 4102 is a German test method for building materials, which tests how they withstand exposure to a small flame. You cannot say that a cabinet is classed in accordance with DIN 4102, instead it is only certain components of the cabinet that could have been tested in accordance with this standard. This definition is frequently used by less serious players who want to make the customers believe that they are buying a fire-rated cabinet, when in reality they are only buying an insulated metal cabinet. The cabinet does not protect the contents any better than a standard thin metal cabinet, i.e. not at all.
Document
Production in writing or image as well as recording that can be read, listed to or in another way only be understood with technical aids.
Document cabinet
Fire-rated document cabinet is used as a definition of a cabinet, intended to protect paper in a fire. The cabinets must be tested and approved to class 60P, 90P or 120P in accordance with NT Fire 017 or equivalent. Document cabinets are not burglary-resistance rated but, even so, they give some degree of burglary protection. If the cabinets are fitted with tamper classified lock, they give good protection of confidentiality.
Emergency exit
As far as Secura is concerned, creating an emergency exit for the actual operations, in the same way as for the staff. This is achieved by ensuring that the documents and verifications upon which the operation are dependent in order to function are always stored in fire-rated cabinets.
Filing cabinet
Usually used to describe the purpose of the cabinet, i.e. a cabinet intended for filing documents. Available in many versions and designs and, by definition, does not have anything to do with fire or burglary. Secura uses the term fire-rated filing cabinet both to say that the cabinet is rated for protection against fire and that the product’s purpose is to act as a local or intermediate archive.
Fire cabinet
Sometimes used as an abbreviation for fire-rated cabinet, but, in reality, not a correct term. We recommend you ask for more descriptive details when anyone uses the term.
Fire resistant cabinet
Primarily used as a name for cabinets intended for displaying flammable products in shops and also for keeping them separate from any fire. The cabinets must be fire-rated in accordance with test method SP 2369, in class 1 or 2. Class 1 means that the cabinets are approved for protecting both liquids and aerosols, while class 2 is only approved for liquids. Read more about Secura fire-resistant cabinets here…
Flammable materials
A name used for flammable liquids in classes 1, 2a, 2b and 3, as well as for gases and some aerosols. We have different storage solutions for these materials depending on whether the products will be displayed in a shop or if, for example, a laboratory or industry will store the materials. Read more about flammable materials on the Swedish Rescue Services Agency’s website.
Fireproof cabinet
Usually used to describe a cabinet that is approved for protecting documents in a fire. However, fireproof cabinet only states that the cabinet does not burn, in reality, it does not say anything about how it protects the contents. We recommend you ask for more descriptive details when anyone uses the term.
Fire-rated cabinet
The correct definition for a cabinet, rated and approved, for protecting documents in a fire. The fire rating can be 60P, 90P or 120P in accordance with NT Fire 017, or equivalent. See also fire ratings.
Fire ratings
In order for a cabinet to provide protection in a fire, it must be fire-rated. In Scandinavia, we primarily use a test called NT Fire 017, but also the European standard EN 1047-1. The cabinets are tested for 60, 90 or 120 minutes and are subjected to, all way round, an extreme temperature that can only arise for very short times in a real fire. In this context, 60 minutes test time is fully sufficient to guarantee that the cabinet protects the contents in a fire. We differentiate between cabinets approved for protecting paper and data media respectively, since they withstand different degrees of heat. When a cabinet is approved for protecting paper, the rating is called 60P, 90P or 120P and, if it is approved for protecting data media, the ratings are called 60D/Diskette or 120D/Diskette instead.
Fire insulated cabinet
The fact that a cabinet is insulated does not say anything about how the cabinet will protect the contents during a fire. This definition is frequently used by less serious players who want to make the customers believe that they are buying a fire-rated cabinet, when in reality they are only buying an insulated metal cabinet. The cabinet does not protect documents any better than a standard thin metal cabinet, i.e. not at all.
Intermediate archive
Archive for documents and annuals that are completed but not yet transferred to their final storage place, because access to them is needed every now again for the work. These documents can also be saved digitally.
Local archive
Comprises documents to which frequent access is required, i.e. both current documents that are being worked on and are not yet completed as well as documents from the current or most recent fiscal year. May be stored in the office, on a hard disk on your own computer, on the internet or in an archive room close to the workplace.
Public document
Document that has been received or drawn up at a public authority and is stored there. Does not solely concern written productions but also, for example, drawings, maps, microfilm, audio recordings, video recordings, e-mail and other electronic documents.
Register
A continuously kept list of incoming and/or outgoing documents.
Safe
The definition safe is frequently used as a collective term for all storage units that provide protection against fire or/and burglary. It is an industry name that manufacturers of fire or burglary rated cabinets fall under. However, it is only a term and not a product. A safe was previously a cabinet with burglary resistance classification in accordance with SS 3492, security cabinet, combined with fire-rating 60P or 120P in accordance with NT Fire 017. Safes have long since been replaced by fire-rated safety deposit boxes, which give the same combined protection as the safes did. However, safety deposit boxes are available in many versions and with greater burglary protection.
Safety deposit box
The purpose of safety deposit boxes if to protect cash and other valuables against theft. Safety deposit boxes must be tested and approved in accordance with EN 1143-1 to grade 0-VII. There are also safety deposit boxes that are tested in accordance with the standard SS 3150, in 40 to 360 points, even if the majority of manufacturers today use the EN standard. In contrast to fire, against which we can protect the material entirely and completely, we can only make burglary more difficult. Security deposit boxes are available in different classes, depending on how much cash or equivalent is to be protected. The limits for the amount go from SEK 50,000 in a grade 0 security deposit box, to SEK 2,420,000 in a grade VII. This amounts apply for a box without alarm, but may possibly be doubled if the box or the room as an alarm. We always recommend that boxes or room be fitted with an alarm, because the restricts the time available to a burglar.
Server security cabinet
Burglary-rated cabinet made from 4 mm thick steel. The purpose of the cabinet it to protect a working server, or computers, against simpler thefts. Normally, the cabinet is equipped with fans, for air circulation, as well as cable lead-throughs. Must be burglary-resistance rated in accordance with SS 3492, class security cabinet. The insured amount is normally equivalent to SEK 30,000 in cash (always check the insured amount with your own insurance company).
Shell protection
All measures an operation takes to protect itself against an external threat as well as measures to give the alarm in the event of fire and to limit the same. This term includes, for example, security fences, gates, access control systems, locks, burglary and fire alarms, guards, surveillance cameras, sprinklers.
Source protection
Protection of the business’ important documents at the immediate workplace, i.e. using fire-rated cabinets, protect information at the place it is produced and used (term coined by Secura).
Suspension file cabinet/vertical cabinet
Fire-rated vertical cabinet is used as a definition of a cabinet, intended to protect paper, in the form of suspension files, in a fire. They consist of a frame with 2, 3 or 4 pull-out drawings with fittings for A4 standard suspension files. There are cabinets available with different drawer depths, which means there can be a large difference in how much a drawer holds. The cabinets are rated in the same ways as document cabinets. See our suspension file cabinets here…
Systematic Fire Prevention Management (SFPM)
A process that includes all the components need to achieve satisfactory fire prevention. The Civil Protection Act implies that individuals in the main shall take their own responsibility for their fire prevention. SFPM should be a continuous process and should be run by the owner as well as by the lessee/tenant/users of the building or other installations. The operators of installations with dangerous activities are also covered by the requirements for SFPM. Among other things, SFPM involves taking measures to prevent or limit damage in the event of a fire.
Trackback/Traceability
In the case of any fault in the product, tracing the product’s various suppliers and components back along the manufacturing or service process. If this can be done, we say there is traceability in the process. Can also apply for work environment procedures. Presumes that the quality documents are still available and can be derived.
Verification
All verification documents that confirm a measure, purchasing agreement or anything else important for the activities. Does not solely cover the financial information. These are called financial verifications.
Weapons cabinet
Burglary-rated cabinet made from 4 mm thick steel. The purpose of the cabinets is to protect weapons against simpler burglaries. The cabinets do not protect the contents against heat, water or smoke. Must be burglary-resistance rated in accordance with SS 3492, class security cabinet.