The safest way to deal with fire is to prevent it.

Every workplace is different with its own unique fire safety needs. To help you make the workplace a fire-hazard-free place, here at HSIL we have listed our top fire safety tips.

  • Carry Out A Fire Risk Assessment: This ensures that our client’s premises are adequately assessed for fire risks to life, property, and business continuity. A full, detailed, and bespoke report is produced and consultation is offered following the fire risk assessment to discuss any significant findings and required actions to achieve a satisfactory standard of fire safety within your premises. Keep a record of all fire safety actions and review them at least annually.

Train Your Employees In Fire Safety: Employee engagement is the best method of continual compliance in any workplace. Training works – Giving people the right information about fire safety is a legal requirement. It works. Once people understand the potential effects of a fire, they change their behaviour for the better, for good. Knowing the best course of action in an emergency can help prevent fire emergencies become even more serious, so it is imperative that all employees, both new and old; are re-instructed in your workplace’s fire safety procedures as often as possible. Fire Awareness Training is an essential part of employee training in the workplace and can help prevent serious accidents.

3. Know Your Fire Extinguishers: Fire extinguishers – it’s important to ensure that the workplace has the appropriate type and number of fire extinguishers to account for the size and the company and that everyone in the vicinity knows how to operate them properly, in case of emergency. They should be maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

4. Create And Maintain Fire Escape Routes: They must take people to a place of safety, have clear signs, be free from obstruction and be well-lit. Persons should be familiar with the best and quickest, route out to the location of the assembly point. They can then act swiftly in an emergency without panicking.

Final exit doors – must be checked every day to make sure that they are unlocked and that there is nothing behind them to hinder an evacuation.

Keep fire doors shut – Fire doors are in place to stop the spread of fire and keep routes protected, make sure they’re not wedged open.

Emergency lighting – All emergency routes and exits must be well-lit. Include lighting at each door, corridor, change of direction and floor level, staircase, and next to fire-fighting equipment and alarms. Be sure to test emergency lighting regularly. 

Fire safety signs – All fire safety signs should contain pictures so anyone can understand them at a glance. Ensure they are well-lit so they can be seen in an emergency, even if the power goes out.

Do not re-enter the building until told it is safe to do so, not even to collect belongings.

5. Hold Regular Fire Drills : Make fire drills a regular part of your workplace schedule, at least annually, to ensure all employees know what to do and where to go in an emergency. Carry out a fire drill sooner if any major changes are made to evacuation routes.

Can people evacuate quickly and effectively?– Practice an evacuation and record what went well, or not so well, and, make improvements. Tell everyone about the improvements and keep practising until it’s the best it can be. You may also wish to appoint a dedicated fire marshal to oversee the correct observance of every fire drill.

6. Electrical Safety: Turn off all electrical appliances at the end of the day – it goes without saying that electrical appliances can easily overheat or malfunction, and become a huge fire hazard in the workplace. So, at the end of each day, ensure that all appliances are turned off and help prevent a disastrous situation from happening overnight.

Don’t overload circuits – overloading electrical circuits with more than the recommended capacity can cause the fuse to blow, overheat and become a huge fire hazard. Avoid overloading plug sockets, multi-plug adaptors or extension leads.

Keep easy access to electrical control panels – if there is an emergency and you need to shut down a particular machine, the last thing you want to be doing is moving obstacles or equipment out of the way before you can even get to the control panel. Always be sure that nothing is stored directly in front of electrical control panels, to allow easy access to shut the system down in case of an emergency, and preferably have them visibly marked to enable swift identification at a moment’s notice.

Report any electrical faults – electrical faults are one of the main causes of workplace fires, so it’s important that everyone on the premises keeps a lookout for any potential electrical faults, and immediately draws attention to them. Have all your electrical equipment checked regularly and have a reporting procedure in place for employees to use. Poorly maintained equipment causes fires!

Stay on top of machine maintenance – ensure that machines are always properly and regularly checked and maintained, to avoid overheating and friction sparks.

7. Keep Fire Safety Equipment Clear:  Anything which may be needed in the event of a fire should not be obstructed or covered in any way at any time. This includes fire extinguishers shoved behind desks, fire escapes blocked by machinery, and sprinkler systems obstructed by decorations or other such materials.

Never block sprinkler systems or smoke detectors – nothing should be in the way of these potentially life-saving appliances, as they play a very important part in the event of a fire.

8. Promote Good Housekeeping: Practice good workplace housekeeping – Clutter contributes to fires by providing fuel and by preventing access to exits and emergency equipment. Ensure that anything that may easily catch fire e.g. flammable and combustible waste materials, including waste paper, cardboard, oily rags, or rubbish, is kept to a minimum and does not contribute to a fire.

Chemical Safety – Use and store chemicals safely. Read the label and the relevant material safety data sheet to determine flammability and other fire hazards. Provide adequate ventilation when using and storing these substances. 

Prevent Ignition – Use all precautions to prevent ignition in potentially explosive atmospheres such as those containing flammable liquid vapours or fine particles. Use non-sparking tools, and control static electricity as required.

Smoke only in designated smoking areas – and be sure that smoking materials are always extinguished and disposed of safely, preferably in a metal container. 

Arson is the cause of 45% of fires – Check the areas outside the building and remove anything that might be tempting to an opportunist arsonist.

9) Maintain The Integrity Of All Services: This is a legal requirement of all businesses.

Some alarms may trigger automatically, but if they are manual be sure to teach employees how to operate them.

Questions you should be asking include;
Is your fire alarm system working?
Is there a zone plan adjacent to the fire alarm panel?
Have the staff been given instructions on interpreting the information on the fire alarm panel and zone plan?
Where are your ‘break glass call points?
Are they numbered?
Where are your heat and smoke detectors?
Is your alarm tested weekly?

10. Prepare An Emergency Plan: What are your fire emergency procedures? – Everyone must know what to do if they discover a fire or hear the fire alarm, what types of warning systems are in place, and evacuation procedures.

Your workplace should have one or more people in charge of creating and maintaining fire safety procedures. These people are known as fire marshals, who will work together with their employer to create evacuation procedures and take charge of evacuations in the event of a fire. They should receive practical training on how to use fire-fighting equipment.

Source : https://firerisk.co.uk/top-10-tips-for-workplace-fire-safety/