Safes - Business safes

Fire protection of paper or data carriers

Fireproof products are designed to ensure that the interior temperature of the cabinet remains below the temperature at which paper or data is damaged. Paper damages or can even decay above a temperature of 175°C.

The critical limit for magnetic data carriers and digital data carriers is already about 50 °C. Above this temperature, there is a high probability that the data on the media will be lost. Thus, in a safe that is tested against fire for 1 hour for paper, for example, your backup tapes are not protected against fire. To protect your media, you need a data safe.

In fact, in addition to fire, data safes also protect against moisture, dust and soot particles. However, data boxes are available for some safes that can be used in a fireproof safe. This gives you the perfect protection against both fire and theft for your papers and data.

Fire resistance testing

If you want to protect your documents from fire, choose one of the tested fireproof safes. Fire-resistant tests take place at independent test institutes in various countries.

There are several fireproof standards according to which a safe can be tested. Safes are tested at high temperatures. Tested is whether the safe adequately protects the contents. Some standards even have a drop test that tests whether the protective effect is not adversely affected if the fireproof cabinet falls through a floor during a fire.

Fire resistance is expressed in minutes, followed by the P of paper or DIS for data. These test standards indicate how long a fireproof cabinet protects paper or data in the event of a major fire.

The most common fire resistance tests

Different standards are used for resistance to fire. It is important to know that paper spontaneously ignites at a temperature of about 175°C. Digital media such as DVDs and USB sticks can be irreversibly damaged as early as 55°C.

According to the European standard EN 1047-1

1 or 2 hour fire resistance to approximately 1090°C
Drop test 9.15 meters

Paper

• EN 1047-1 S60P (60 minutes fire resistant)
• EN 1047-1 S120P (120 minutes fire resistant) Data
• EN 1047-1 S60DIS (60 minutes fire resistant)
  EN 1047-1 S120DIS (120 minutes fire resistant)

According to the UL 72 (UL) standard

½, 1,2 or 3 hours fire resistance to approximately 1090 °C
Drop test 9 meters

Paper

• UL72 class 350 - 30 minutes
• UL72 class 350 - 1 hour
• UL72 class 350 - 2 hours

Data

• UL72 class 125 - 30 minutes
• UL72 class 125 - 1 hour
• UL72 class 125 - 2 hours
• UL72 class 125 - 3 hours

According to the Nordic standard NT Fire 017 (SP).

1, 1 ½ or 2 hours fire resistance to approximately 927 °C
No drop test

Paper

• NT Fire-017 60P (60 minutes fire resistant)
• NT Fire-017 90P (90 minutes fire resistant)
• NT Fire-017 120P (120 minutes fire resistant)

Data 

• NT Fire-017 60DIS (60 minutes fire resistant)
• NT Fire-017 90DIS (90 minutes fire resistant)
• NT Fire-017 120DIS (120 minutes fire resistant)

According to the standard LFS (EN 15659)

½ or 1 hour fire resistance to approximately 850°C

No drop test

Paper

• EN15659 LFS30 (30 minutes fire resistant)
• EN15659 LFS60 (60 minutes fire resistant)

According to the ETL standard

Especially for fireproof storage of digital media carriers such as CDs, DVDs and memory sticks. An ETL tested safe is therefore not suitable for storing magnetic media such as tapes and floppy disks.

30, 60 or 120 minutes fire resistance. Drop test 4.5 meters (15 ft)
ETL 30 (30 minutes fire resistant)
ETL 60 (60 minutes fire resistant) - ETL 120 (120 minutes fire resistant)

According to the German standard DIN 4102

Fire cabinets falling under this category are double-walled and fitted with a fire-retardant insulation material. DIN 4102 is a construction method, which means that these cabinets are not fire tested. DIN 4102 cabinets are fireproof for paper for a short period of time.