Fire Safety: 12 Ways to Prevent Accidental Fires at Your Workplace

Workplace fires are one of the major risks for businesses of all sizes and across industries. Workplace fire accidents not only cause huge damages to property but also could lead to painful injuries and even death. And, once a fire occurs in the workplace, most small businesses have a hard time getting back on their feet.

Top Workplace Fire Safety Tips

Different workplaces pose different fire risks. For instance, if you deal with chemicals and explosives, then you need carefully honed procedures to combat the unique threats posed by these hazardous substances in your workplace. Here, in today’s article, we give you some of the basic fire safety tips that work for all businesses.

Clear out the Clutter

A clean and tidy workplace not only improves productivity but also protects you from accidental fires. If your workplace has plenty of flammable material, then a tidy workplace makes all the difference between a minor threat and a catastrophic blaze.

Make sure that your workplace is free from clutter. Make sure that flammable material like paper filing and oily rags are stored away from naked flames.

Always Maintain Electrical Safety

The majorities of workplace fires happen as a result of faulty wiring and improperly maintained electrical equipment. If you have an in-house electrician, then make sure that he/she stays on top of all electrical issues.

If not, make sure that you call in a qualified electrician to carry out repair work regularly. If employees, not some faulty wiring or poor equipment, inform them to bring it to the attention of safety managers immediately.

Ensure that all electrical equipment in the workplace is operated at safe levels, and avoid overheating or sparking, at all costs.

Keep Electrical Control Panels Accessible

If there’s an emergency in the workplace, then the first thing that you have to do is shut down all electrical equipment. Ensure that electrical panels are easily accessible, after all, you don’t want to be scrambling and moving boxes out of the way to reach the control panels.

Ensure that all control panels are readily accessible, and have the right signs indicating the panels.

Store Flammable and Hazardous Chemicals Safely

Very often, businesses assume that flammable and hazardous chemicals are the ones used in chemical plants. On the other hand, regular day-to-day stuff, found in most workplaces like printer supplies, machine inks, and others are highly flammable. Make sure that you follow the right storage instructions that come with these substances.

Provide Fire Safety Training for All Employees

A team of vigilant and well-trained employees is your biggest ally in ensuring the fire safety of your workplace. Employees should be made aware of the best course of action to take during an emergency. The right thinking and spontaneous action could easily avert major disasters and prevent the unnecessary loss of assets and life. All employees, irrespective of their department, should be trained in the right fire safety protocols.

Conduct Regular Fire Safety Drills

One important element of fire safety training is making employees aware of the right exits to take in the unfortunate event of a workplace fire. Fire drills should be conducted regularly at the workplace. What’s more important is that employees take these drills seriously, and act the right way.

You need to appoint a fire marshal to ensure that the fire drill is conducted in the right way. And, employees who disrespect the drill must be issued warnings.

Keep Safety Equipment Accessible

Just like electrical control panels, you need to keep all fire safety equipment accessible. Ensure that fire extinguisher are mounted in handy places, and the path to the equipment is not obstructed or covered in any way.

Fire extinguishers shoved under tables, boxes and other machinery blocking fire escape routes, sprinkler systems obstructed by wall decorations – are a big NO and could lead to a major tragedy.

Ensure that your Workplace has the Right Fire Safety Equipment

Smoke alarms are a must for all workplaces. These alarms should be fitted in all buildings and tested at periodic intervals. Ensure that you replace the batteries in smoke alarms regularly. After all, having a smoke alarm that doesn’t work is equal to having no alarm in the first place.

Ensure that you have the right fire-fighting equipment fitted throughout the workplace – fire extinguishers, buckets of sand, empty buckets to fill with water are all part of the firefighting equipment list.

Different industries require different types of firefighting equipment. So, ensure that your fire-fighting equipment is in tune with the needs of your industry.

Apart from having the right fire safety equipment, you should also provide employees with the right training on how to use them. After all, having a fire extinguisher on campus is of no use, if no one knows how to use it in an emergency.

Have an Emergency Plan

This is a detailed plan that employees must be aware of. The plan has all details on – what employees must do if they discover a fire in the workplace, the intimation protocols, warning triggers, and evacuation procedures.

Create Fire Escape Routes

If you don’t already have fire escape routes in place, then you need to create these routes immediately. Make sure that fire escape routes have clear signs and are well lit.

Have Emergency Lighting

When a fire breaks out, all electrical equipment will be switched off immediately to prevent electrical fires. This means – you need the right emergency lighting to get people to evacuate without panicking. Install glow emergency lights on – staircases, next to fire-fighting equipment and on floor levels. Make sure to check the functioning of these emergency lights regularly.

Conduct a Fire Safety Assessment

Here at Totalika, we provide our clients with a comprehensive fire audit as part of our risk assessment and safety audit. Our audit is based on the latest industry standards and years of experience. Once we conduct the fire safety assessment, we identify your threats and provide you with the right suggestions, to overcome potential threats.

With our Fire Safety Audit, you can be assured that your premises are adequately assessed for fire risks for life, and we help you achieve the best standards of fire safety.

To know more about our fire safety audit, and to make your workplace fire-safe, just drop in a mail at support@safix.org.