Fire safety is an important issue in any commercial premises, both in terms of preventing a blaze happening in the first place and the procedures in place for responding if a fire does happen.

The latter is crucial to ensure the fire is tackled and contained as soon as possible before it gets out of hand, as well as ensuring everyone in the warehouse is able to get to a place of safety. However, there are few places where it can be more important to prevent a fire from taking hold to begin with, as many items stored there may be inflammable or toxic.

An example of the scale of fire that can occur was shown by a recent incident in Norwich, when a disused warehouse at a former shoe factory went up in flames. Because the building was not staffed and in use, there would have been no active steps being taken to mitigate against fire risks or stop the initial blaze once it started.

Of course, such fires can be started deliberately and it remains to be seen what the cause was. But the fact that warehouses are so expansive and there are often no natural firebreaks inside means the risk of any blaze spreading fast and getting out of control is obvious.

At the same time, if a warehouse is in use and there are toxic or inflammable substances there, matters can get far worse, leading to a greater conflagration and potentially filling the local air with poisonous fumes.

For those in charge of safety in a warehouse, the use of warehouse pallet storage racks can be a major area that needs attention. These are very efficient in the way they use space, but if the items stored in them are inflammable, it makes sense to buttress them by placing non-flammable items in between them.

This way, if there is a fire, it becomes harder for the flames to reach the most dangerous items or substances. Alternatively, if for any reason a fire was to start in the vicinity, surrounding them with stacks of non-flammable or less- flammable items could help to contain the fire more easily.

In any workplace, it is a legal requirement under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to ensure that risks to those employed there are minimised. Fire safety in a warehouse will come under this umbrella and the first thing any employer should do is carry out risk assessments.

More specifically, there is government guidance available concerning fire risk assessments in factories and warehouses. This helps those responsible perform their duties under Article 50 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Key points include making sure flammable items are kept away from likely sources of ignition, such as naked flames, steam pipes, electrical heaters, appliances that may malfunction and even exposure to airborne sparks from open fires outside the warehouse door.

By preventing fires starting, you can do the most to ensure a disastrous fire does not take place. But how and where you store and stack flammable goods is also important in reducing risks to the lowest possible levels.