Safe ratings and testing standards

In terms of the level of security offered, safes are categorised into:

1. Burglar Safes. These are designed to resist tools commonly used by burglars to forcibly open the safe such as hand tools, power tools, cutting torches, chemicals and explosives. Specific materials and construction techniques are used to address each type of threat.

Burglar safes are classified based on types of tools they can resist, and for how long. The more tools the safe can withstand, and the longer it takes to be cracked, the better the protection.

Two methods are used to classify the level of protection of burglar safes:

1. Construction ratings. Manufacturers assign a rating to a safe based on the way it is constructed. Common ratings include “B-rated safes”, “C-rated safes”, and “B/C-rated safes”. It is a less popular and reliable method of classification because of the lack of independent testing. It also does not guarantee resistance against any specific type of threat for any specific amount of time.
2. Performance ratings. It is a more reliable rating system as a safe is ranked according to written standards developed by independent testing laboratories. The leading American test institute is Underwriters Laboratories (UL), whose written standard has rigorous requirements that safes must follow before they can display a UL rating on a product. The UL 687 standard assigns specific ratings based on the types of tools it is resistant to and how long the safe can delay an attack. Ratings are designated using an alphanumeric code such as the following common ratings for commercial safes:

• TL-15 = The safe is Tool-Resistant, or designed to resist attack from common hand tools as well as power tools for a minimum of fifteen minutes.
• TL-30 = The safe is Tool-Resistant, or designed to resist attack from common hand tools as well as power tools for a minimum of thirty minutes.
• TRTL-15 = The safe is Torch-Resistant, or designed to resist attack from cutting torches as well Tool-Resistant, or designed to resist attack from common hand tools as well as power tools for a minimum of fifteen minutes.
• TRTL-30 = The safe is Torch-Resistant, or designed to resist attack from cutting torches as well Tool-Resistant, or designed to resist attack from common hand tools as well as power tools for a minimum of thirty minutes.
• TXTL-60 = The safe is Torch, Explosive, and Tool-Resistant, or designed to resist attacks from cutting torches, common hand and power tools, and explosives for a minimum of sixty minutes.

The basic rating system given above gauges the safe’s ability to resist attacks on its door and face, the two most common points of forced entry. Safes that provide protection on all six sides (face, top, bottom, back, left and right side) receive an additional designator “X6” which is added to the basic rating. For example, a safe designated as “TL-15X6” is a Tool-Resistant safe that gives protection on all of its six sides for a minimum of fifteen minutes.

Bear in mind that these tests are conducted in a laboratory with expert safe crackers, who are given the benefit of studying the safe’s construction blueprint before they crack it. So while a TL-15 Safe, for example was cracked by such a world-class burglar in 16 minutes, the average burglar even if his skills are above average would probably take an hour or more to crack the safe.

1. Fire Safes. There are numerous test institutes, testing standards and fire ratings for fire safes. In the European Union, certain standards are decided at European level by a panel of experts and enacted individually by its member states. European standards are recognised by their EN designation. Each country customarily appends their own prefix to these standards when signing them into law. In Britain, the standard being followed is the BS EN 1047.

Aside from this, independent laboratories have also conducted their own fire tests which are highly regarded in the industry. Underwriters Laboratories (UL) classifies safes based on the items they are designed to store, the expected temperature of the fire it will encounter, and the amount of time the protection will hold. The three main UL rating categories for fire safes include:

• UL Class 350: Protects safe contents by sustaining a temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit or less and a humidity of 85% or less for the specified time period. Suitable for storage of paper documents. This is the most basic of all UL tests.
• UL Class 150: Protects safe contents by sustaining a temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit or less and at a humidity of 85% or less for the specified time period. Suitable for storage of non-paper articles such as magnetic tape, optical media such as CDs and DVDs, and paper articles.
• UL Class 125: Protects safe contents by sustaining a temperature of 125 degrees Fahrenheit or less and at a humidity of 80% or less for the specified time period. This rating provides the highest level of protection. Safes with this classification are ideal for storage of most all electronic media and paper documents. Class 125 rated safes also have water-resistant seals on the safe door to prevent the entry of water.

These class ratings are further defined by the minimum amount of time with which the safe provides its specified level of protection, such as one-half hour, one-hour, two-hour, three-hour, and four-hour ratings.

Which type of fireproof storage units to choose?

Different types of storage options are available in a variety of sizes ranging from fire security boxes through to fireproof filing cabinets and fire cupboards. The main consideration for choosing the storage unit is the type of material you will put in it.

Fire paper safes offer protection for paper documents as they can withstand temperatures up to 177° C, the temperature at which paper is damaged. Paper ignites at 230° C. Storage units in this category include fire document safes, filing cabinets and cupboards.

Fire data safes protect electronic storage media such as tapes, plastic computer media, external hard drives, USB drives, DVDs, microfiche and film reels from the damage caused by high humidity, dust, smoke, as well as the liquid and magnetic field interruption caused by the extremely high temperatures of fires. Data Safes are intended to sustain its internal temperature below 52° C, which is the temperature that plastic storage media is damaged by fire.

View our range of Fire Cupboards, Fire Document Safes, Fireproof Filing Cabinets and Fire Security Boxes at http://www.theofficesuppliessupermarket.com/c/safes/fire-safes

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