A new year brings always brings about motivation for new improvements in our personal lives. But what about improvements in our workplace? Everyone can take measures to help promote a safe work environment, and making sure your office is as fire safe as possible is of utmost importance.
There are many potential fire-starting situations that can be avoided in the workplace by making sure a few guidelines are implemented and that everyone in the office is on the same page. Let’s make our office a fire safe environment in 2015 by incorporating the following guidelines into our New Year’s resolutions.
1.
Practice office-wide fire drills
Holding regular fire drills will ensure that employees know the proper evacuation routes and that they exit the building in a proper and timely fashion. Knowing where the exits are located and what to do in case of an emergency will give you and your employees peace of mind and will help them to keep calm in the event that a threatening situation were to occur. To properly conduct a fire drill, follow these simple steps:
Step 1: First create a safety committee with different team leaders from each department. Each team leader is responsible for making sure their team exits the building.
Step 2: Provide all employees with the evacuation routes and information. Different departments may have different evacuation paths, and it is important that everyone knows where to go in case of an emergency.
Step 3: Next, develop several fire drill scenarios to ensure everyone is prepared for different situations.
Step 4: For initial training, hold drills every two weeks, and then conduct them every three months is sufficient.
2.
Make sure all employees know where fire alarm pull stations and extinguishers are located
When returning from the holiday vacation, hold a meeting for all employees or have each safety committee team leader make sure that each employee knows where the fire alarms and extinguishers are located. Also, have a demonstration of how both are used. Make sure all extinguishers are in their place and are up-to-date.
3.
Test the alarm system twice a year
Just like all other electronics and safety components, alarm systems can wear out, have glitches, or be compromised because of dust, dirt, or other contaminants. To ensure that your alarm system still operates and functions correctly, test it at least twice year. EC&M has summed up testing your alarm system in these five steps:
Step 1: Test and calibrate alarm sensors (flame and smoke detectors) per manufacturer specifications. This requires knowing about the different sensors and their testing requirements, failure modes, and re-installation requirements.
Step 2: Simulate inputs and test the annunciators. This requires specific knowledge of the system under test.
Step 3: Set sensitivity. This requires an understanding of the particular system, the specific application, and fire detection theory.
Step 4: Coordinate with fire department to test the input to their system.
Step 5: Check the battery for corrosion and expiration date, then take appropriate action, if necessary.
4.
Inspect fire sprinkler systems regularly
The leading cause of substantial fire damage in buildings with a fire sprinkler system is from the sprinkler control valves being turned off. Sprinkler control valves should be examined every so often to ensure that they are locked in the wide open position. Sometimes, a sprinkler control valve is shut off to conduct repairs or maintenance. After the repairs are done, be sure to turn the valve back on. The NFPA suggests that a weekly visual inspection be done on unsupervised valves and monthly visual inspections of locked or supervised valves. Also, look for any leaks or anything else that looks out of the ordinary.
5.
Keep the office area clean and don’t allow trash and litter to accumulate unnecessarily.
A clean office isn’t just visually appealing and comfortable, but it also decreases the chances of fire. It has been proven that places that are unclean and have unnecessary clutter and litter are more of a fire hazard. Clean out old papers periodically, and make sure everyone is doing their job in keeping the office space clean, neat, and tidy.
If you have a dangerous situation that you are unsure how to correct, call S&S to help keep everyone safe. S&S is skilled in correcting dangerous work atmospheres, and making sure that businesses are as safe as possible right from the start.
Contact S&S
SEE the S&S sales kit
LIKE us on FACEBOOK
FOLLOW us on LinkedIn
FOLLOW us on TWITTER
Four S&S locations
RESOURCES////////////////////////////////////////////////////
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/conduct-fire-drill-work-10444.html
http://ecmweb.com/content/fire-alarm-system-testing-inspection-and-maintenance
https://www.disastersafety.org/commercial_maintenance/fire-sprinkler-maintenance-and-operation-a-guide-for-small-business/
2014 was quite an exciting year for S&S. We had the privilege of providing the fire protection infrastructure for the new Central Utilities Plant on the Airbus site in Mobile.
S&S Sprinkler 