4 Ways To Improve Fire Safety In Your Workplace

Fire doesn’t discriminate and whether you are a small or a large business, a solo entrepreneur or an enterprise, you are still at risk and as a founder or business owner it’s your responsibility to put sufficient measures in place to protect yourself, your employees and your premises in the event that one occurs. So here are four ways that you can improve your fire safety.  

Create a fire-safety plan

Prevention is the best course of action so ensure that all employees are aware of ways in which they can limit the chance of a fire, such as smoking designated areas and not overloading plug sockets. In the event that a fire does occur it can cause serious panic and without a fire safety plan, your employees may not know how to react in order to keep themselves safe. Make sure that you have clearly highlighted the fire escape routes within your office or workspace and ensure that every member of staff, including new hires or temporary workers, are made aware of their fire exits as soon as they begin working in the building. It’s also beneficial to practise fire drills to ensure that staff know what to expect and where to go if a fire does occur. In addition to your standard fire exits, you will also want to ensure that any disabled members of your team have their own evacuation plans taking into account the fact that the lifts will no longer be functional.

Own and maintain fire safety equipment

Although the fire brigade should always be called in the event of a fire, many small fires in the workplace can be controlled and extinguished using the fire safety equipment you keep on-site such as fire extinguishers and fire blankets. Having suitable fires fighting equipment can help to stop the spread of fires before they take hold and can also help you to fight your way out of exits if they have become blocked.  Be sure that you have adequate fire fighting equipment within easy reach and remember to service and check their condition regularly so that they remain in perfect condition ready to use.

Don’t forget about the dangers of smoke

Flames are only one of the potentially deadly elements of fire and smoke can be just as deadly so don’t forget to install smoke and fire curtains from companies such as A1S Group. Smoke and fire curtains are triggered in the event of a fire and automatically deploy regardless of a power outage to help restrict the movement of the fire and control it to one area.

Educate your staff on the importance of fire safety

Sometimes it can be easy to forget the real danger of fire and the reasons why many office fires are caused. To keep fire safety at the forefront of your employee’s minds ensure that they have annual fire safety training to teach them about the common causes of workplace fires and how to properly act in the event of an emergency.