Nexans Fire Safety, an All-In-One Services & Solutions Offer for Safer Electrification

With new forms of energy use come new risks. Our growing reliance on electrically powered devices, from tablets to smartphones, and the rise of innovations like electric vehicles and rooftop solar panels increase the strain on domestic wiring systems. The 2022 Global Claims Review by Allianz insurance highlighted fire as the leading cause of corporate insurance losses, with damages in the billions. Additionally, the human cost is significant, with approximately 4,000 fatalities and 134,000 injuries annually.

The main cause of casualties in indoor fire are smoke and hazardous emissions which significantly reduce the chance to escape and extend the damage to goods far behind the burned area. The contribution of cables is key both in active and passive protection. Electrical cables enable the supply of energy and the transmission of information. They can contribute to improve the time to escape the fire.

Nexans Low Fire-Hazard cables are engineered for enhanced performance under fire conditions. These flame retardant low-smoke, zero-halogen cables have a hard wearing, lead-free, flame-retardant sheath that dramatically reduces health risks as well as environmental impact. Nexans Low Fire-Hazard cables are also non-migratory and suitable for polystyrene applications, designed to ensure safer cabling in public places like hospitals, airports, and tunnels.

Nexans Fire-Resistant cables are essential components of a building safety system. During the evacuation process, they ensure that critical functions (warning systems, smoke detector, smoke extractor, emergency exits, and fire lighting equipment) remain functional, even under a long exposer to flames. They significantly delay the propagation of a fire, thus gaining precious time for evacuation and fire-fighting, reduce to a minimum opaque smoke and acid gases, the prime cause of fire-related deaths, and damage to equipment and structures.

In addition to offering separate Fire Safety cables, Nexans incorporates Low Fire-Hazard cables into our engineered and manufactured Nexans Modular Wiring System to enhance fire safety. The system operates with several key features to improve safety:

• Cable specification – cables with the correct fire safety properties (low fire hazard) are specified in advance, prepared in the factory, tested and then delivered to the site. The process is transparent and eliminates the risk of non-compliant cable being installed in the building.

• Cable routing – with modular wiring this is pre-designed, and the wiring systemizing and lengths are determined in advance. All the modular wiring elements are clearly labelled and identified per the design.

• Service penetrations – breaches in building fabric are a major contributor to the spread of fire. In a modular wiring system, service penetrations can be appropriately designed and specified in advance – including the allowance of fire stopping and intumescent protection.

• Safe terminations – all junctions, connections and terminations in modular systems are made and tested in the factory, reducing the scope for installation errors being made on site.

Nexans’ priority is to provide our customers and partners with everything they need to design and build safe and sustainable projects. Our comprehensive range of cables and Modular Wiring represents the forefront of innovation, designed to help you anticipate risks, secure your assets, and protect lives.