Every year, building owners and facility managers across Australia go through the same ritual: fire safety equipment gets inspected, a compliance certificate gets filed away, and life moves on. It’s easy to treat this as a box-ticking exercise. It shouldn’t be — because that piece of paper is one of the most important documents to understand how well your fire systems are maintained. 

What Are We Actually Talking About? 

Every state and territory places some form of ongoing maintenance obligation on building owners for essential fire safety measures — things like sprinklers, fire doors, smoke alarms, emergency lighting, and fire hydrants. In most jurisdictions this extends to a formal annual statement or certificate lodged with a regulator; a few, such as the Northern Territory, rely more on an ongoing maintenance obligation without a standardised annual lodgement. A summary of the obligations in each jurisdiction is included in the table below: 

If your clients have operations across multiple states, this is not a “set and forget” compliance task — it’s a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction obligation that needs to be tracked separately for each property. 

Why This Matters for Your Clients

Whilst many see this as just another compliance task to be ticked off every year, from a risk management perspective, this is where things get serious. An expired, incomplete, missing, or inaccurate fire safety statement doesn’t just expose you to a fine from your local council or fire authority — it can directly undermine your insurance cover in several ways: 

• Incomplete Statement generally means there are issues with the fire systemjs that need attention and that the systems are not currently fit for purpose.
• Duty of disclosure – If there are issues with the fire systems has this been disclosed? If that turns out not to be true at the time of a loss, insurers can treat this as non-disclosure — potentially voiding cover, even if the fire had nothing to do with the specific measure that lapsed. 
• Breach of policy conditions – Many commercial property policies require fire protection equipment to be kept in good working order and compliant with statutory obligations. A lapsed statement is often the clearest evidence that this condition wasn’t met, giving insurers grounds to dispute a claim. 
• Evidence in the claim’s investigation – After a fire loss, loss adjusters routinely request compliance records. A current, accurate statement strengthens your position; a gap in the paper trail invites scrutiny and can slow or complicate settlement. 
• Underwriting and premium impact – A history of lapsed statements or unresolved defects can affect how underwriters view the insured’s risk profile — influencing terms, premiums, or willingness to offer cover at renewal. 

What Good Practice Looks Like 

Any organisation that takes a proactive approach to risk management should see these annual statements as critical governance documentation. It is the one record that should give your client’s comfort that their maintenance providers are keeping your fire systems in appropriate working order.  If you’re asking about it, it shows you have an understanding of fire systems and are really adding value to the process. You’re not a fire engineer, but it is simple enough to see that the statement is available and current… or not.

We recommend clients treat fire safety certification as an active risk management process rather than an annual paperwork exercise: 

• Maintain a compliance calendar tracking due dates for every property, by state. 
• Engage appropriately accredited practitioners — requirements for who can certify differ by jurisdiction. 
• Address defects promptly rather than noting them and moving on; an unresolved defect on a statement can itself become a disclosure issue. 
• Keep historical records accessible, not just the current statement — insurers and investigators often want to see the trend, not just a snapshot. 
• Loop in your risk adviser/consultant whenever a statement identifies non-compliance, so any insurance implications can be managed proactively rather than discovered after a loss. 

Conclusion 

An Annual Fire Safety Statement — whatever it’s called in your state — is not just a regulatory formality. It’s a key piece of evidence that your clients can use to manage fire risk effectively and responsibly. Treating it as a genuine risk and governance control, rather than an administrative afterthought, is one of the simplest and most effective things you can do to support your client’s risk management efforts.  

For questions about fire safety compliance at a specific property, or how it might affect your current policy. Please contact us — we’re happy to help.

Imperial Sugar Dust Explosion 

For food manufacturers, the danger isn’t theoretical—it’s real; it’s preventable, and it’s often overlooked. One of the most devastating global dust explosion events occurred in 2008 at an Imperial Sugar factory in Georgia in the United States. Unfortunately, 14 people lost their lives in this tragic event. This video explains what happens and is an excellent tool for understanding the risks associated with combustible dust.

Preventing the Disaster 

To manage the risk, we can break it down to focus on:  

• Eliminating the dust – ensuring the dust cannot reach “explosive” concentrations, and
• Eliminating the ignition source – remove any potential source of ignition from the area where dust may be present.

I only handle small quantities, is this an issue for me? 

Food industry operators who handle large quantities of grain, flour, or other fine organic materials typically understand the risk associated with combustible dust and the requirements to manage this hazard. For many that handle smaller quantities of these materials, it may not be as clear as what is required.  

The process of defining the hazardous areas in your facility, otherwise known as Hazardous Area Classification (HAC), is a good way of understanding where you have exposure to your facility.  

Understanding Hazardous Area Classification  

HAC involves identifying zones within a facility where explosive atmospheres may occur and determining the likelihood and duration of such events. Australian Standards such as AS/NZS 60079.10.2 govern classification in dust environments. These standards align closely with international frameworks like IEC and NFPA.

Dust environments are typically classified into the following zones:

• Zone 20 – Continuous presence of combustible dust in air under normal conditions.
• Zone 21 – Likely presence of combustible dust during normal operations.
• Zone 22 – Dust may be present, but only under abnormal conditions.

Classification considers dust properties such as particle size, moisture content, minimum ignition of energy (MIE), and explosion severity. 

Ignition Source Controls

• Electrical Equipment Certification: Use dust certified (Ex-rated) electrical equipment suitable for classified zones.
• Hot Work: Implement hot work permits, fire watches, and isolation procedures during welding, grinding, or cutting.
• Static Electricity Control: Apply proper bonding, grounding, and anti-static flooring to minimise static discharge.
• Mechanical Equipment Safeguards: Ensure moving parts such as bearings, conveyors, and motors are monitored to prevent overheating, friction sparks, or metal-to-metal contact.
• Surface Temperature Control: Maintain equipment surface temperatures below the minimum ignition temperature (MIT) of the dust.

Engineering Controls 

• Dust Collection Systems: Installation of enclosed dust extraction units at source points.
• Explosion Venting and Suppression: Use of vents and suppression systems to safely manage overpressure.
• Sealed Transfer Systems: Minimizing open transfers of dry material.
• Inerting: Introduction of inert gases like nitrogen to prevent ignition in closed systems.
• Temperature Control: Avoiding hot surfaces in equipment to stay below the dust’s ignition temperature.

Management and Administrative Controls 

• Routine Housekeeping: Scheduled cleaning to prevent dust accumulation on surfaces.
• Preventive Maintenance: Regular inspection of equipment to detect and repair leaks, corrosion, and overheating.
• Hazardous Area Inspections: Ensuring compliance with area zoning and equipment certifications.
• Training and Awareness: Staff should understand the risks, zoning implications, and appropriate behaviours.

How @Risk Underwriting Can Help

Hazardous Area Classification is a process in maintaining operational safety in dust-prone environments. Understanding how dust behaves, where it accumulates, and how it may ignite is central to mitigating explosion risks. Integrating traditional controls with digital tools strengthens proactive hazard management, enhances compliance with Australian standards, and most importantly, protects people, property, and production continuity.

@Risk Underwriting supports the clients by:

• Identifying dust hazards and ignition sources
• Implementing effective safety controls
• Ensuring regulatory compliance
• Protecting people, assets, and production

Our experts provide practical strategies for facilities of all sizes, helping you manage risk proactively and keep operations safe.

For more information and enquiries, please contact us.