It’s frightening to think about a fire breaking out at the office. Most of us take our safety for granted. Many employees may not even know what to do in the case of a fire. With the alarm screaming and heat and smoke filling the building, it is easy for people to panic. To make sure that does not happen, it is best to ensure your equipment and your employees are prepared to respond effectively if a fire should occur.
Here are a few fire safety tips to help ensure fire prevention and safety measures are in place:
- Practice your building evacuation plan (fire drill) regularly.
- Make sure employees know the location of the nearest exit.
- Make sure employees know where the fire alarm is and how to activate the manual pull stations (red fire alarm boxes).
- Remember to keep up with monthly fire sprinkler inspections.
- Never block emergency exits with furniture or objects.
- Hire fire prevention professionals for semi-annual/annual fire extinguisher inspections.
A lack of preparedness during emergency situations can cause a lot of panic and confusion. Many employees are completely unaware of life-saving office fire safety procedures and equipment.
Share these fire safety tips with your employees so they know what to do in the event of an office fire:
- Pull the nearest fire alarm pull station as you’re exiting the building.
- For a small, contained fire, use a portable fire extinguisher to douse the flames. Not everyone knows how to use one so having a training session is a really good idea.
- Always use the stairwells to exit the building. Do not attempt to use an elevator.
- Before opening a door, touch it, or the door handle, with the back of your hand to make sure there is no fire on the other side of the door.
- Close doors behind you to contain fire and smoke.
- Get as low to the ground as possible to avoid smoke inhalation.
- Evacuate as quickly as possible, moving away from the building once outside.
An office fire can happen in an instant. Too often businesses ignore important fire and life safety preventative measures, including educating employees.
Keep employees safe with fire protection services from Total Fire Protection, your single source fire and life safety specialists serving the New Your Metra area.
