A Saskatchewan insurance firm believes it has reduced the number of hog barn fires in the province by using infrared thermography.
Garth Driedger, risk consulting manager at Mennonite Mutual Fire Insurance in Waldheim, Sask., said he and other employees started scanning hog barns with infrared equipment six or seven years ago and that practice has helped them detect potential fire hazards.
“It’s impossible to identify the loss that didn’t happen. But we can certainly point to examples that we feel confident, could’ve resulted in losses,” he said. “Infrared thermography has identified potential losses in the electrical systems, there’s no question.”
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Mennonite Mutual Fire provides infrared thermal imaging as part of its service for clients who operate hog barns, poultry operations and dairy farms. It also has non-livestock clients, such as seed growers.
The technology is a diagnostic tool to assess the condition of the electrical and mechanical equipment inside a hog barn, Driedger said.
“We can look at connections, we can look at breakers, we can look at disconnects … and of course we can look at fan motors and various other mechanical bearings … we can have a look at all elements that are under load.”
He cited one example of how the diagnostic tool discovered a problem.
“We identified a particular situation that happened to be an overheated fuse disconnect … unfortunately they (the client) didn’t act on it … and it subsequently failed and they had a loss.”
Good for business
Earl Harder, chief executive officer of Mennonite Mutual Fire, which is licensed to operate only in Saskatchewan, said the technology has improved the company’s bottom line.
Before they started using thermography to inspect hog barns and other facilities, the company, which is owned by policy holders, was struggling financially and was forced to dip into its surplus funds to cover losses.
“It’s very difficult to determine whether a fire would have or would not have occurred,” Harder said. “(But) in the last number of years, we’re seeing a turnaround where we’re actually adding to that surplus, not taking away.”
Companies that insure hog operations have become more reluctant to provide coverage, due to the large number of barn fires in recent years. Harder said thermal imaging is a way for insurers to mitigate the risk of fire and the related insurance losses.
Driedger noted that thermal imaging is a service they provide free to their clients, on a four year basis, as part of a comprehensive risk assessment. As well, the company’s risk consultants encourage clients to have a thermal scan done every year to detect potential hazards.
Harder thinks his company is the only one on the Prairies that has incorporated thermography into its risk management practices.
In Ontario, he said, a re-insurer, which financially backs farm insurance companies, provides the service in that province.
Jim Zyta, vice-president of loss prevention for North Waterloo Farmers Mutual, said thermal scans are a common practice in Ontario.
“All of our large farm operations have a thermal inspection completed. We have had great success in detecting some major problems with this technology, which would have gone unnoticed to the visual eye.”
Other applications
Harder said the technology is also useful to prevent fires for other agriculture businesses, like seed processors.
Business owners can be hostile to the idea of risk consultants inspecting their operation.
Harder pointed to a case where an owner was reluctant to have the thermal imaging done on his seed processing business, but when the technology worked, he was quickly swayed.
“As luck would have it, the second scan they did was a bearing on one of the pieces of equipment for cleaning the seed, and it was generating a lot of heat,” he said. “He was really, really enthused … (because) all of these things could be (repaired) in the off season.”
