Nearly 60% of businesses that experience a workplace fire never recover. By knowing how to prevent and protect against fires, you can reduce the risk of your business going up in smoke. Below are just a few measures worth taking to protect your business from fires.
Avoid overloading electrical sockets
Electrical fires are the most common types of fires that affect businesses. One common cause of electrical fires is overloading electrical sockets.
Most sockets are designed to handle a wattage of about 3000 watts. You should be careful of plugging too many heavy duty machines and appliances into a single socket as it could cause the socket to overheat. This is most likely to occur when using a power strip – take note of exactly what you’re plugging into each extension socket and make sure that it’s not too much for the outlet to handle. Portable heaters, portable air conditioners and kettles should never be plugged into a power strip.
Store flammable items safely
Another leading cause of commercial fires in incorrect storage of flammable items. This could include anything from cleaning chemicals in an office to pesticides on a farm.
First, make sure that you’re using the right containers. For example, when storing oil, it’s important to opt for robust purpose-built containers such as the steel oil tanks. Avoid storing flammable objects near heat sources such as heaters or strong lights. Even direct sunlight can be a risk, so avoid storing flammable objects on windowsills.
Install security cameras to deter arsonists
Unfortunately, arson is a very common cause of commercial fires. This tends to be young people putting cigarettes through letterboxes or setting fire to posters on buildings.
You can usually deter arsonists with a well-placed security camera. Even if this doesn’t deter a fire from breaking out, it could help to record evidence to use later.
Create safe smoking areas
Cigarettes from customers and employees are another major cause of fires. By making sure that outdoor smoking areas are safe, you can prevent a fire breaking out.
Smoking areas should be located 2 metres away from your building and should not be near any flammable items. It’s worth setting up a special bin for disposal of cigarettes so that butts aren’t thrown onto the floor. Avoid placing general purpose bins near smoking areas so that they’re not used as cigarette bins.
Make sure your premises has working fire alarms
Fire alarms can help to alert you of a fire early. If it’s a small fire, you may have time to put it out. If it’s too big for that, you’ll at least have more time to escape and get everyone out of the building.
It’s a legal requirement for all UK businesses to have ‘an appropriate fire detection system’. Make sure that you have fire alarms installed and that they are regularly tested to ensure they’re working. Larger buildings will require more detectors and alarms so that fires can be detected throughout the workplace.
Place the right extinguishers in the right places
Most fires can be put out with a fire extinguisher if caught early enough. This could help to reduce the potential damage.
Make sure that fire extinguishers are set up in the right places and that they’re the right type of fire extinguisher (different types of extinguisher are recommended for different types of fires – for example, only CO2 fire extinguishers should be used on electrical fires). A few places to consider putting fire extinguishers include kitchens, outdoor smoking areas, offices and warehouses containing flammable objects. Make sure that these extinguishers are always accessible and kept in good condition.
Go on a fire safety training course
A fire safety training course could be a great opportunity to learn a few extra fire prevention tricks. On top of this, you can learn exactly how to react in a fire in order to reduce damage and keep as many people safe from harm as possible.
There are lots of these courses around, some of which also allow you to obtain qualifications. If you have a team of employees, you could invite certain employees to also take this course.
Insure your company against fires
Property insurance won’t help to prevent a fire, however it could help to fund your recovery if you are a victim of a fire. Without insurance, most businesses cannot afford to repair damage or replace equipment.
Spend time shopping around for insurance in order to find the best rates and cover. Having good fire safety measures in place will reduce your rates.
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