Thermal Imaging Enables Farmers to See Where Fire Hazards Lie

By Matt Keating

Thermal imaging cameras are enabling farmers and farm mutual companies to look at electrical systems on the verge of causing major problems.

Randy Drysdale, manager of Loss Control Services for Farm Mutual Reinsurance Plan (FMRP) Inc., Cambridge, Ontario, said the equipment has been highly beneficial in finding potential fire hazards before they happen.

“The camera, which operates on the theory that all objects radiate infrared energy, scans electrical equipment in operation to locate ‘hot spots’ caused by defects such as loose or dirty connections, phase imbalances, defective fuses or faulty circuit breakers,” Drysdale said. “Almost anyone can use the camera, knowing what you are looking at and understand why it is occurring is the difficult part of the task. That’s why we have chosen to become the American Society of Non-destructive Testing (ASNT)-trained thermographers. Without the training, we would just be people with an expensive camera.”

Drysdale stressed that FMRP is leading the charge in taking care of putting more cameras in the field.

“We are finding all kinds of electrical problems in farm buildings which enable us to solve loss control problems in different areas,” Drysdale said. “We like to look at the structures from top to bottom. We make the information as specific as possible and look at every barn on a property.”

All of FMRP’s field staff is equipped with a Mikron 7600 Pro thermal imaging camera, according to Drysdale. “The Mikron camera is a multifunction thermal imaging camera that not only takes thermal images, but visual images as well,” Drysdale said. “The benefit of having a camera that does both types of images is a time saving feature that is very important for the report writing process.”

The 7600 Pro allows for voice recording when the images are taken.

“This eliminates confusion when the report is being prepared, and is a huge time saver,” Drysdale said. “The Mikron camera also has one of the largest pixel sizes of any camera on the market and pixel size is directly related to image quality.”

In addition to thermal cameras, the field staff has a laser measuring device that helps determine the dimensions of buildings, as well as the distances between risks.

“We will soon begin using a CAD (computer aided design) drawing program that will use the data supplied by the laser measuring device to create accurate site and building diagrams,” Drysdale said.

All of Drysdale’s staff have tablet computers that they use in the field to collect information.

“We are currently finalizing the field report that will make it even easier to use the tablet computers,” Drysdale said.

Using drop down boxes and field forms in the report, the risk assessment specialists can quickly and easily enter data into the reports.

“We are in the process of developing individual forms for the various types of risks that the field staff may encounter,” he said. “For example, we have developed a poultry inspection form that not only calculates the bird weight capacity for a poultry barn, but also develops a risk score for the building.”

The Loss Control Services Department at FMRP has been in full operation since November 2004. Three risk assessment specialists were hired to provide coverage across Ontario.

“All staff are ASNT Level 1 trained thermographers,” Drysdale said. “Approximately 30 risk assessments have been completed since November 2004, and have covered an extensive range of risks, such as swine barns, poultry barns, grain handling and storage complexes, ginseng farms, vegetable processors, dairy operations, and equestrian centers. Comprehensive risk assessments were completed for each of the risks, including thermographic scans of all electrical systems, a full risk assessment of the property, site diagrams, an environmental analysis, and complete replacement cost estimates for all farm related buildings.”

The field staff works from a home office and are responsible for booking all appointments. They contact the member companies directly and inform them that they will be contacting the policyholder to arrange a time to do a risk assessment of the policyholder’s property. They also invite the agent or broker to be present during the inspection. All Risk Assessment specialists are full time salaried employees of FMRP.

All completed reports are sent to the manager – Loss Control Services for review and comment before being delivered to the member companies. The first three reports that each member company requests are hand delivered and the contents discussed. By delivering the reports in person, it helps to set up a confidence level between the member companies and the loss control department. The report is reviewed and discussed and concerns and problems are noted and corrected.

“This really is the wave of the future,” Drysdale said. “Insurance companies will get a lot out of this.”

Posted: Monday, October 17, 2005 12:00:00 AM. Modified: Monday, October 17, 2005 3:03:58 PM.

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