Prepare for Fires in the Workplace

6/14/2019 (Permalink)

Protecting your business or workplace by teaching about electrical fire safety and putting safety plans into place is always a great idea. Accidents happen, and that’s why being prepared is key. If you can extinguish the fire with fire extinguisher or blanket before it gets out-of-hand, that would be best to limit the amount of damage. Be prepared to think quickly and determine if the fire can be put out without risk of injury or endangering any of your coworkers. Always put employee safety first. It’s important to know smoke inhalation can be fatal. Fire can spread quickly, and it can produce dangerous amounts of smoke. Smoke inhalation is the cause of death in home fires than the actual fire. Not to mention, smoke causes just as much damage to the business as the fire itself. There is a five second rule of thumb that fire fighters use. They say that if you cannot extinguish a fire within five seconds then dial 9-1-1 and evacuate. Be sure to have an updated employee evacuation plan in place, and make sure to have routine fire drills so your employees know exactly what to do. After the fire is put out and everyone is accounted for and safe, you can always count on your friendly neighborhood experts at SERVPRO of Wilson County to help you put your business back together.

Here are a list of things to have established in a place of business when it comes to fire safety. Fire Marshals look for these items. These items are ultimately for your safety, and the safety of your employees and coworkers.

Make Sure You Have Clear Paths Make sure all exits are not obstructed in any way. Multiple, clear exits in the event of a fire will increase the likelihood that everyone is able to get out safely.

Emergency Exit Lights In the event of a fire, your workplace may lose power or have very little visibility due to heavy smoke. For these reasons, clearly marked paths of egress are required.

Fire Extinguishers are a MUST Fire extinguishers are crucial in stopping a small fire before it grows larger, avoiding widespread damage to your business and injuries to your staff or customers. That's why fire marshals pay special attention to verify that they are in compliance.

Fire Sprinkler System Water Supply For this system to function correctly, not only must the sprinkler deflectors have the proper clearance, the water must flow as it should when called upon to extinguish a fire. The fire marshal will examine the critical components of the sprinkler system water supply, to determine that they are in good working order.

Electrical Panels Since electrical panels have live current running through them, any potentially flammable items (like cardboard boxes stored too close to the panel) make sure you can get to the panels without having to move anything. 

Proper Storage of Combustible Liquids Combustible materials and liquids represent a special fire hazard and must be treated accordingly. These will provide fuel to any fire and they pose a significant risk to your facility, including explosion potential, so proper measures must be taken at all times.

Maximum Occupancy Limits Your building has a maximum occupancy limit which has been put in place for a reason. If a fire were to occur, this is the number of people who could safely evacuate the premises in a timely fashion.

If you’ve been affected by a fire, know that SERVPRO® of Wilson County hits all the above qualifications and more. Contact us today to learn how we’re able to make it “Like it never even happened.”