Top 10 fire safety tips that could save your life in the workplace

Top 10 fire safety tips that could save your life in the workplace

Safety in the workplace always holds a prime position. Fire can create a huge catastrophe in the workplace. A fire in the workplace could be destructive not only for the workers but also for the public. Workplace fires could cause the business a huge loss of money as property damage and as the worker compensation. It could lead to some serious injuries and even may lead to death. The fire could be the most useful allies in the workplace as it has plenty of uses. It also could be our deadly enemy if anything happens out of the box. Generally, a fire in the workplace is due to defective gas lines, poor pipefitting, improperly stored flammable material or open flames.

As we say prevention is always better than cure, in the case of fire too prevention has got immense importance. Every workplace has its own specific fire risks, and they have to maintain their own techniques to get rid of these potential damages. According to law, it’s the employer's responsibility to ensure that premises are safe from fire and proper safety measures are intact. Let us go through some basic tips which everyone should follow to maintain fire safety in the workplace.

1. Maintain electrical safety

When you are working in a company you may always have to work with electrical equipment. Even the simplest of the equipment like printers may be subjected to electrical fluctuations. A huge number of fire accidents are reported every year due to faulty wires and equipments. Short circuit caused in electrical components due to damages in wiring board could lead to big fire accidents. In order to prevent these mishappenings, proper safety fuses and protective equipments should be implemented.

The risks from electricity could be minimised by regularly checking the equipment for damage, ensuring equipment is used properly by the employees and removing faulty equipments immediately. If you discover any damage, report to the corresponding person at once.

2. Always provide good housekeeping

A clean and tidy workplace increases safety in the workplace. When there is excess waste material or unused scrap on the premises it may increase the chances of fire. Papers and materials that are thrown together can catch fire if sparked by a frayed electrical wire. Every worker should make sure that his workplace is free from waste and also remove unnecessary objects that causes the fire to happen.

3. Keep an eye on emergency escape routes

The rules clearly state that there always should be an emergency route in every office through which the employees can escape in case of fire. If a fire occurs in the workplace you should immediately break the safety door and escape by also allowing your coworkers to save their lives.

4. Store the chemicals safely

In certain industries, as part of the process chemicals should be used in large quantities. As these chemicals could easily catch fire, they should be stored in safe places. Some of these chemicals like printing supplies will have certain mandatory rules that should be considered while being stored. Proper display sheets must be displayed in these storing places which allow the workers to be cautious in case of an emergency.

5. Appoint a fire warden

Every office should have a designated person who is responsible for fire-related safety actions often termed as fire wardens. They may be usually a group of trained professionals who could be aware of the safety measures that could be implemented if any emergency occurs. These people will work together with their employer to create evacuation procedures and take charge of evacuations in the event of a fire. Fire wardens would be trained and will be confident in executing safety procedures within the workplace

6. Know the location of the fire equipment

Safety apparatus, mainly the fire extinguisher, should be present in every company. We must be aware of the location of the fire extinguisher as it helps us to react immediately during the fire accidents. Any obstruction or hindrance that could block the way to reach the equipment should be removed for safety purpose. This includes fire extinguishers shoved behind desks, fire escapes blocked by machinery, and sprinkler systems obstructed by decorations or other such material.

7. Display signboard and emergency contact number

Signboards regarding fire safety should be displayed in every workplace. They should contain emergency safety measures that could be used effectively if a fire accident occurs in the workplace. The boards also should indicate the contact number of the emergency services or the rescue team that could be extremely helpful to the workers. Should implement no smoking boards strictly as smoking under these conditions could be dangerous. Workers should be strictly insisted to use smoking rooms rather than smoking in the workplace. We should post reminders that enforce proper smoke distinguishing and cigarette discarding.

8. Install emergency lighting

There will be emergency routes or paths in a company for meeting emergency conditions. All these passages should be well lit to make the evacuation process smooth. All places especially corridors, partitions, staircase and places near fire fighting equipments should be provided with ample lighting. These lightings should be undergone frequent testing too as any fault in these lighting systems will make the evacuation difficult.

9. Check the fire alarms and smoke detectors are working

It’s often seen in offices that the batteries in smoke detectors are not properly replaced. This could cause the detector to stop working and as a result, it will not have the power to trigger the alarm if any fire hazard occurs. By regularly checking these devices we could ensure that their functionality is on a proper basis. Also, make sure that the sprinkling system is working properly and nothing is blocking the way. These sprinklers could act immediately in case a fire occurs and helps to cut down the fire instantly.

10. Provide Fire safety awareness training to the employees

Recent research in EU states that 76% of fire accidents are caused accidentally, mostly as a result of people misusing equipment and appliances, careless handling or smoking materials. To get rid of this it is the responsibility of the employer to educate employees about how to respond in case of a fire or emergency. It is crucial that every worker in the workplace should be aware of how to behave or react while a fire accident occurs. They should know how to use a fire extinguisher or similar protective equipments in case of a hazard.

Things to do if you discover a fire in the workplace

• Alert all the co-workers in the workplace by using the alarm

• Immediately contact the safety services

• Evacuate the place by using the emergency road

• Use the fire extinguisher to put down the fire if you have knowledge in using it.

• Stay calm and instead of creating chaos and be sensible in helping others too

• If possible close the storage rooms in which chemicals or similar products are kept and thereby blocking the fire in reaching other rooms too

• Break the doors or glasses if you are trapped

• Stop panicking and make others panic

Even if your office has all possible plans, procedures, signs and equipment in place, it’s unlikely to be effective if employees don’t understand their responsibilities. You can never be too watchful when it comes to preventing fires in your workplace. For the best prevention strategy, make sure all employees are well-educated about fire prevention with the fire safety awareness program by Olive Safety. A dynamic change in the workplace attitude is not as easy as a pie. We could help you implement perfect fire safety awareness among your workers. Make sure that your working environment is safer and more efficient in the case of a real fire.