Risk Management Alert
Topic: Preventing Sauna Fires
Compared with the prior year, sauna fires in Redwoods-insured YMCAs increased 100% in 2003 and 300% year-to-date in 2004. The causes of loss have included electrical malfunction, clothing and/or towels being dried over the heating element, newspapers being left in the sauna, and pyrolytic decomposition (charring of the wood so that its ignition temperature is dangerously reduced). The severity has ranged from relatively minor to very major, including a partial closure of the facility. Sauna fires are preventable and there are several steps that your association can take to prevent them from occurring in your facilities. Some measures are:
- Establish a locker room monitoring procedure that requires multiple staff members to walk through the locker rooms on a frequent basis (i.e., at least every thirty minutes) to check inside the sauna. Implementing and documenting such a protocol will also address several other risk management needs including abuse prevention, theft deterrence, and guest safety in the steam room or sauna. The locker room monitoring form found on our web site can be used for documentation.
- Post signs stating that newspapers, magazines, and other reading materials are not allowed in the sauna. Enforcement will be required by your staff...change is often difficult to implement.
- Post signs warning against the drying of clothing or towels over the heating units.
- Inspect your sauna(s) looking for charring or excessive discoloration of the wood, especially near the heating elements. Determine the cause of the problem, correct the condition that caused it, and replace any charred wood with material meeting manufacturer's guidelines. Wooden components are frequently too close to the heat source and have to be removed or given additional clearance. Sometimes a heat shield must be installed behind the heating element to adequately protect the wood behind it.
- If you have automatic fire sprinkler protection in your facility a sprinkler head should have been installed in the sauna(s). If one is not found there you should contact the company that services your system and have one installed.
- If your facility does not have automatic fire sprinkler protection then you should implement the following relatively inexpensive alteration. Extend the nearest domestic water line so that a high-temperature fire sprinkler head can be installed in the sauna. The line extension should be equipped with a backflow preventer and should have a shutoff valve to isolate it from the rest of your system. Normally one sprinkler head per sauna is all that is needed. Check your local plumbing codes to verify the acceptability of such an installation in your jurisdiction.
Please call us at 800-463-8546 to discuss this or any other risk management safety concern, or visit our web site at www.redwoodsgroup.com to learn more about YMCA risk management related issues.
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