New certification system for enhanced fire safety of vehicles

RISE has initiated and developed a certification scheme for the vehicle industry that will enable manufacturers, operators and service centres (workshops) to certify their fire risk mitigation process. The fire risk management required in the certification is a key safety element, used to identify and evaluate fire hazards. For best results, it is important that manufacturers, operators and service centres are equally dedicated to solve the fire problem. Vehicle fire investigations reveal that design, production, operation and maintenance can all be responsible, however, most important is to ensure that information and experiences from fire incidents and identified fire hazards are linked to relevant personnel, practices, manuals, and quality procedures. The certification cannot guarantee the elimination of vehicle fires, but can ensure that manufacturers, operators and service centres will operate at the front line of vehicle fire safety engineering.