A safe (also called strongbox, coffer or kist) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or damage. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face removable or hinged to form a door. The body and door may be cast from metal (such as steel) or formed out of plastic through blow molding.
Specifications
Specifications for safes include some or all of the following parameters:
It is often possible to open a safe without access to the key or knowledge of the combination; this activity is known as safe-cracking and is a popular theme in heist films.
A diversion safe, or hidden safe, is a safe that is made from an otherwise ordinary object such as a book, a candle, a can, or even a wall outlet plug. Valuables are placed in these hidden safes, which are themselves placed inconspicuously (for example, a book would be placed on a book shelf).
Fire resistant record protection equipment consists of self-contained devices that incorporate insulated bodies, doors, drawers or lids, or non-rated multi-drawer devices housing individually rated containers that contain one or more inner compartments for storage of records. These devices are intended to provide protection to one or more types of records as evidenced by the assigned Class rating or ratings; Class 350 for paper, Class 150 for microfilm, microfiche other and photographic film and Class 125 for magnetic media and hard drives.
Strongbox multiple locking mechanism
These types of enclosures can be rated for periods of 1⁄2, 1, 2 and 4 hour durations.
In addition, these enclosures may be rated for their impact resistance, should the safe fall a number of feet to a lower level or have debris fall upon it during a fire.
Burglary resistant safes are rated as to their resistance to the type of tools to be used in their attack and also the duration of the attack.
The attack durations are for periods of 15 min., 30 min. and 60 min.
Safes can also contain hardware that automatically dispenses cash or validates bills as part of an automated cash handling system.
Room-sized fireproof vaults
For larger volumes of heat-sensitive materials, a modular room-sized vault is much more economical than purchasing and storing many fire rated safes. Typically these room-sized vaults are utilized by corporations, government agencies and off-site storage service firms. Fireproof vaults are rated up to Class 125-4 Hour for large data storage applications. These vaults utilize ceramic fiber, a high temperature industrial insulating material, as the core of their modular panel system. All components of the vault, not just the walls and roof panels, must be Class 125 rated to achieve that overall rating for the vault. This includes the door assembly (a double door is needed since there is no single Class 125 vault door available), cable penetrations, coolant line penetrations (for split HVAC systems), and air duct penetrations.
There are also Class 150 applications (such as microfilm) and Class 350 vaults for protecting valuable paper documents. Like the data-rated (Class 125) structures, these vault systems employ ceramic fiber insulation and components rated to meet or exceed the required level of protection.
In recent years room-sized Class 125 vaults have been installed to protect entire data centers. As data storage technologies migrate from tape-based storage methods to hard drives, this trend is likely to continue.
Fire-resistant safes
A fire-resistant safe is a type of safe that is designed to protect its contents from high temperatures or actual fire. Fire resistant safes are usually rated by the amount of time they can withstand the extreme temperatures a fire produces, while not exceeding a set internal temperature, e.g., less than 350 °F (177 °C) over 30 minutes. Models are typically available between half-hour and four-hour durations.
An in-floor safe installed in a concrete floor is very resistant to fire. However, not all floor safes are watertight and will often fill with water from fire hoses, therefore everything stored inside should be placed in either double zip lock bags, dry bags, or sealed plastic containers.
In the USA, both the writing of standards for fire-resistance and the actual testing of safes is performed by Underwriters Laboratories.
Jewelry safes
Jewelry safes are burglary and fire safes made specifically to house jewelry and valuables. These high end safes are typically manufactured with interior jewelry chests of fine woods and fabric liners with a range of organizational configurations.
UL certification for safes
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) testing certifications for safes are known to be the some of the most rigorous and most respected in the world. They are only matched by B.T.U/V.D.M.A. certifications (Germany). J.I.S. (Japan) and CSTB (France) preheat the oven with the safe inside until the temperature reaches the desired setting (as opposed to a sustained temperature of the rating), then the safe is cooled artificially (as opposed to naturally). Also, J.I.S. and CSTB only drop their safes from 13-15 feet (as opposed to 30). Rarely are safes dropped 15 feet or more and they are usually artificially cooled by the fire department. UL also runs an indirect explosion test on all safes. Additionally UL-768 certifies the combination lock against tampering. UL-140 certifies a relocking mechanism that will permanently lock the safe bolts, in case an electronic lock fails or a UL-768 rated lock is compromised.
Class 125
The safe sustains an internal atmosphere of 125 °F (52 °C) and 80% humidity. This class was introduced with the emergence of floppy disks. The safes are tested with only non-paper media, but are clearly sufficient to hold paper. New, more durable computer media, such as data on compact disks crystallize at 350 °F (177 °C),[1] which make this type of safe overly-sufficient to store these media.
However, Underwriters Laboratories have not tested whether data on Blu-ray disks, DVDs or CDs are altered during testing. They have just tested floppy disks, which are not a common storage medium these days.
An added benefit of this safe is that it is waterproof due to a gasket on the door and the label will state this. These class ratings are used in conjunction with hour ratings such as: ½, 1, 2, 3, or 4.
Class 150
The safe sustains an internal atmosphere less than 150 °F (66 °C) and 85% humidity. This class was introduced with the emergence of computer data tapes or magnetic reel-to-reel tapes. UL tests this with paper and non-paper articles. This safe is also sufficient in storing some optical media, such as compact disks. Cases can be purchased that will meet Class 125, if they are placed inside a Class 150 safe. Some may be waterproof due to a gasket on the door and the label will state this. These class ratings are used in conjunction with hour ratings such as: ½, 1, 2, 3, or 4.
Class 350
The safe sustains an internal atmosphere of less than 350 °F (177 °C) and 85% humidity. This is the most basic of U.L. tests and specifically tests for the storage of paper. The ignition point of paper is 450 °F (232 °C), so this safe is sufficient for storage of paper. Cases can be purchased that will meet Class 125, if they are placed inside a Class 350 safe. These class ratings are used in conjunction with hour ratings such as: ½, 1, 2, 3, or 4.
Class TL-15
This is a combination locked safe that offers limited protection against combinations of common mechanical and electrical tools. The safe will resist abuse for 15 minutes from tools such as hand tools, picking tools, mechanical or electric tools, grinding points, carbide drills and devices that apply pressure.
Class TL-30
This is a combination locked safe that offers moderate protection against combinations of mechanical and electrical tools. The safe will resist abuse for 30 minutes from tools such as hand tools, picking tools, mechanical or electrical tools, grinding points, carbide drills, devices that apply pressure, cutting wheels and power saws.
Class TL-40
This is a combination locked safe that offers moderate protection against combinations of mechanical and electrical tools. The safe will resist abuse for 40 minutes from tools such as hand tools, picking tools, mechanical or electrical tools, grinding points, carbide drills, devices that apply pressure, cutting wheels and power saws.
Class TRTL-30
This is a combination locked safe that offers high protection against combinations of mechanical, electrical, and cutting tools. The safe will resist abuse for 30 minutes from tools such as hand tools, picking tools, mechanical or electrical tools, grinding points, carbide drills, devices that apply pressure, cutting wheels, power saws, impact tools and, in addition, can withstand an oxy-fuel welding and cutting torch (tested gas limited to 1000 cubic feet combined total oxygen and fuel gas.)
Class TRTL-60
This class will withstand the same assaults as Class TRTL-30 for 60 minutes.
Class TXTL-60
This class meets all the requirements for Class TRTL-60 and, in addition, can withstand high explosives such as nitroglycerin or equivalent to not more than 4 ounces of nitroglycerin in one charge (entire test must not use more explosive than that equivalent to 8 ounces of nitroglycerin).
See also
References
Further reading
- Locks, Safes, and Security: An International Police Reference, published by Charles Thomas Publishers, Springfield, Illinois, United States. (2000) ISBN 0-398-07079-2.
