Wake up before things go wrong

“As long as nothing happens, there's nothing to worry about.” It is perhaps the most dangerous line of thinking I encounter every day at logistics companies working with lithium-ion assets. Electric forklifts, AGVs, GPUs or construction equipment with a battery pack: all make the job cleaner and more efficient. But also a lot riskier. Only: that risk doesn't penetrate until it's already too late.

We invest massively in charging infrastructure, solar panels and battery-powered vehicles, but fire safety lags hopelessly behind. There are hardly any laws and regulations for mobile battery applications, supervision is fragmented and awareness is lacking. Even insurers - who often have to pay for the misery first - may not yet require us to incorporate preventive detection. Because yes, our system is unique. And what is unique cannot be enforced by default.

We at Smart Fire Technologies increasingly get asked, “What does a system like this cost?” And rarely the question, “What happens if we don't do it?” Because yes, a smoke detector that never goes off feels like a waste of money. Until there is smoke. And then you're too late.

Our systems signal early. Even before the smoke. At the vehicle level. Sometimes even at the connector level, as in the case of solar panels. Not to put out the fire - that's up to the fire department - but to be able to act, to prevent collateral damage. You know where the risk is, you know where the vehicle is, you can secure surrounding assets. That's the power of early warning.

Yet it is difficult to break through the armor of “it doesn't happen to us” with facts and professional explanations. Without sensation, without disaster scenarios, but with realism. After all, how many times does a forklift have to catch fire in a highway distribution center before we take prevention more seriously?

I sincerely hope that our systems never have to work. That everything stays safe. But if things do go wrong - and they will - you had better be prepared.

Prevention may not always be possible. Containment is. But then you shouldn't wake up only when it's already burning.

The Pen - Dennis van der Mark – Smart Fire Technologies