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Warehouse robots A new safety data sheet covering fire protection for robot-driven warehouses provides much needed guidance. Jose Sanchez de Muniain speaks to one of its authors, Allan Macpherson of FM Global.
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he guidelines by FM Global address the challenges posed by large automatic storage retrieval systems (ASRS) to a level of detail not found in any other fire protection standards available today. The new advice, published in Property Loss Prevention Data Sheet 8-34, has been compiled in response to the growing number of companies that are automating their warehouses, packing them more densely, stacking products higher, and using flammable plastic containers that can trap water discharged by fire sprinklers. The guidelines aim to assist warehouse managers to optimise fire protection for ASRS through storage design; reduce costs of fire protection systems; base protection
strategies on evidence; and support sustainability through the use of less water. The latest data sheet replaces a 2007 version that has been completely re-written to include new protection options for arrays where the horizontal support for product material handling uses supporting structures such as rails or angle irons. Furthermore, for warehouses requiring in-rack automatic sprinklers, the guidelines offer options to prevent fire from growing vertically past the in-rack sprinkler protection allowing the in-rack and ceiling systems to be treated separately in hydraulic calculations. The loss prevention recommendations are provided based on warehouse construction and location; occupancy
The new guidelines are particularly applicable to largescale, automated warehouses that use flammable plastic containers. Photos: Shutterstock.
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