No one wants a fire in their building. If you own or manage a workplace, you follow certain safety standards to protect your employees and property from fire. Yet, in 2013 alone, more than a million fires broke out in the United States. The U.S. Fire Administration, which collects and analyzes fire data, determined that these fires cost $11.5 billion, caused almost 16,000 injuries, and killed more than 3,000 people.
Fires are far too costly to skimp on fire safety protocol. In an effort to protect against fires, our government, manufacturers, and businesses have employed flame-retardant chemicals that attempt to inhibit or drastically reduce the damage of fires. Recent research is showing that these flame retardants may not be the solution or as safe that many think they are.