Let’s say the worst has happened. Your offices have caught fire, but thanks to your fire safety equipment and fire training, your staff are all safe, the fire brigade have extinguished the fire, and all you have to do now is just clean up the mess.
But, of course, there’s no ‘just’ about it.
Chances are that your office is now either covered in foam, powder or swimming in six inches of water – or all three. You can replace the furniture, buy new computers, but what about your precious paperwork and backup data?
Oops. The paperwork that didn’t get scorched or burnt is now only fit for papier maché and the backup hard drive that didn’t melt is dripping water gently.
If only you’d had a waterproof fire safe.
Most commercial safes have offered a degree of fire protection ever since the days of cowboys and dynamite, but today’s safes are not only lighter, they are also far more effective at keeping the contents cool. You can now buy safes that are both fireproof and waterproof – and some even float in a flood!
CDs, disk, and film negatives are far more sensitive to heat and moisture than paper, and can be damaged at temperatures above 52 degrees C. A fireproof and waterproof media fire safe will keep the temperature down for up to 1 hour, so these valuable items are not adversely affected.
Fire Protection Online stock a range of Honeywell and Sentry fire safes suitable for all businesses, large and small. These robust safes fall into four main categories:
1. Waterproof Fire Safes
A waterproof fire safe looks like a traditional safe, with a modern twist, since they unlock via a programmable digital keypad lock, with a manual override if required. The Honeywell large models feature concealed hinges and six solid steel bolts in the locking mechanism, to protect against theft.
Inside, they have a large capacity (up to 61 litres in the largest model we stock) suitable for storing a wide range of items including:
- Irreplaceable paper documents
- Highly confidential paperwork
- Portable backup drives
- Cash and jewellery, etc
The highest rated safe will protect the contents at 51.5 degrees C for a whole hour, even if the fire temperatures reach a scorching 926 degrees C, for a whole hour. (As any Ray Bradbury sci-fi fan will tell you, paper burns at Fahrenheit 451, or 232 degrees C.) A digital fire safe will also protect CDs, DVDs, USB Drives and Memory Sticks for the same period.
In addition, the top-rated safes will remain watertight for up to eight hours, and even the heaviest safe we sell, the Honeywell 2096D, will float in a flood without leaking. Remember, the fire brigade could pour thousands of litres of water into your office to put out the fire as quickly as possible.
Finally, top quality waterproof digital fire safes offer a lifetime “replacement after fire” guarantee, a comforting thought if the worst should happen. The Honeywell guarantee states that “If your Honeywell Safe product is damaged by fire at any time while still owned by the original owner, Honeywell Safes will replace it with a comparable model at no charge.” You just pay the delivery charges.
2. Waterproof Fire Media Chests
With so much portable media carrying so much important information available to staff, a water-resistant fire media chest is a must-have in every office. Obviously, the ideal backup solution should always involve off-site storage of main back-up media, but it is amazing how much storage media we use everyday, almost without thinking. Consider the contact detail on your phone, the pictures on your camera and memory cards, the tunes on your mp3 player, the presentations on your USB memory stick, and so on.
A good-sized media chest will swallow vital gadgets and memory storage devices, and keep them secure. A good quality media chest will provide 60 minutes of precious fire protection for digital tapes, floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, USB drives, memory sticks, DAT tapes and similar, often more than long enough for a fire to be extinguished. Some models such as the Honeywell 2040WE come on wheels, so you can secure it in any location, or share it between colleagues.
Safe manufacturers Sentry have developed a smart series of fire chests that go one further, by allowing you to back up data to any USB powered backup drive locked in the fire chest, without unlocking it! For example, the SentrySafe QA0121 fire chest has a USB connector which links your computer to the protected hard drive inside. These safes are also suitable for storage of a wide range of media including CDs, DVDs, iPods, etc. The smaller model provides 30 minutes of fire protection in temperatures up to 840 degrees C.
3. Fire Proof Boxes
Fire boxes are simply smaller versions of fire chests, with the baby of the range the same size as a petty cash tin. However, they are just as fireproof as their big brothers, keeping papers, cash and media safe at below 52 degrees C in fire temperatures of up to 840 degrees C, for 30 minutes. Waterproof models can be totally submerged in water for up to 24 hours without leaking, so your valuables remain safe and dry even if the office completely floods.
4. Laptop Security Boxes
This double steel walled laptop security box is designed to keep your laptop safely locked away when you are travelling or away from your desk. Most will hold a 17″ laptop or smaller, and come with an integrated steel cable. Simply loop the cable around a fixed metal anchor point, secure the cable and relax! Suitable for use in car boots where fixing points are provided, this kind of secure laptop box ensures your laptop and data remains securely locked away. Please note that these boxes are not fireproof or waterproof, so it’s best to store your laptop in a large digital waterproof fire safe on your return to the office.
Make sure your valuables are secure from fire and water damage with waterproof fire safe or media chests.