Wood Processing

A multitude of fire risks can be found in the wood processing environment. The very nature of a site, which handles flammable materials on a daily basis, is one which could lead to catastrophe if the correct fire safety precautions are not in place.

Wood processing involves complex processes to do with crushing drying, gluing, sorting, sawing and milling wood. These processes are commonly serviced by automatic and pneumatic machines, sometimes also responsible for transporting wood to different areas of the plant.

​Automated machinery operates at high production speeds, consistently, and for long hours, sometimes 24 hours per day. It is very likelyThe temperature of machine engines can rise, machine engines will heat up, and in this hot environment, the chance of combustion is elevated. Closely connected processing areas mean that once a fire starts, it canwill spread easily and quickly.

With large vehicles responsible for delivering and picking up materials, as well as transporting materials around the site, the threat of engines overheating is amplified.

Wood processing sites also present an often overlooked fire hazard and explosion threat: combustible dust. Dust suspended in the air, in a certain density, under particular circumstances, has the potential to combust or explode. The force from a dust explosion is capable of high levels of damage from injuries and death to the destruction of equipment and even entire buildings.