This document discusses safety ratings for safes. It explains that safes are rated based on their resistance to burglary tools like cutting torches, explosives, and hand/power tools. The most reliable rating system is performance ratings from independent labs like UL, which assigns codes designating the tools and length of time a safe can resist attack. Higher rated safes protect against more tools for longer periods. Fire safes also receive ratings from labs like UL based on the temperature and humidity they maintain for paper, electronics, or both. Proper selection depends on the contents being stored.

1. Safe ratings and testing standards

2. IN TERMS OF THE LEVEL OF SECURITY OFFERED,
SAFES ARE CATEGORISED INTO:

3. 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:

4. 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.

5. 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:

6.  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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. WHICH TYPE OF FIREPROOF STORAGE UNITS TO
CHOOSE?

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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

17. CONTACT US
08451 701 601
sales@theofficesuppliessupermarket.com
http://www.theofficesuppliessupermarket.com