Fire accidents rank number one when it comes to statistics on loss of property and documents in organizations. Every year, organizations across the world lose billions of dollars’ worth of property to fire accidents, most of which turns out to be documents and other physical objects of value. To cut down on or even prevent this loss of property, businesses are now turning to fire resistant safes to store valuable documents and other artifacts. Fireproof safes and file cabinets are among the most sought after office storage systems today.
Fire resistant safes and file cabinets are made of special materials that are highly resistant to fire, high temperatures and the physical effects of the fire, while at the same time, protecting their contents. Fire resistant safes are usually classified into different categories or classes based on how long they can last in a fire at a certain temperature. There are models that can range anywhere from half an hour to four hours. One drawback of fire resistant safes is that they are not water resistant. If a fire resistant safe is sprayed with water in the process of putting out a fire, its contents are sure to get wet. It is therefore advisable to place the contents of fireproof safes inside plastic bags.
Fireproof safes are put through rigorous fire resistance tests to ensure that their contents are fully protected from the effects of the fire. Independent testing firms and other laboratories generally put safes manufactured by different companies through standard tests to ensure that the safes meet certain norms and standards. Fireproof safes are quite expensive, and come with the added cost of greater vulnerability to physical attack, thereby actually making them less safe compared to other safes when it comes to the risk of theft, robbery or vandalism.