Over 3,000 people per year perish in fires across the United States. You don’t want your employees to be another fire death statistic. You need to make sure they know what to do during a fire at their workplace.
A fire in the workplace can be devastating if your employees are ill-trained in fire safety education. Learning how to protect employees from fire is all about establishing a fire response plan.
Use the following fire safety tips to ensure a fire at work doesn’t cost you lives as well as property. That way your employees can feel safe at work.
Make a Fire Prevention Plan
Your best defense against fires in the workplace is preventing them from occurring in the first place. This means making a comprehensive fire prevention plan. Make sure employees know how fires start and how to avoid accidents.
Things like leaving a coffee maker on, smoking in undesignated areas, and electrical malfunctions are some common fire starters. Cooking is the number one cause of fires in the workplace.
Plan What to Do During a Fire
Having a fire prevention plan works great to reduce the likelihood of fires starting, but you also need to make a fire response plan. Make sure to include the following elements so your employees can remain safe and alive.
Evacuation Routes
Your employees need to know where all evacuation routes are. This means having illuminated exit signs that function off a backup generator if the power goes out.
Drill your employees at least once a month to ensure they know which way to go if a fire breaks out. Have multiple evacuation routes in case one gets compromised by the fire.
Safety Zones
You need to designate a safe place where your employees can gather and survive a fire after evacuating from it. It helps to have both indoor and outdoor safety zones where they can shelter in place.
Buy Adequate Equipment
Having the right equipment to contain or survive a fire is essential for employee safety. Things such as working fire extinguishers in tactical places, a sprinkler system, and caches of fire-resistant clothing can save lives.
Make sure to source the best equipment from reputable providers to ensure it functions well during an emergency. Make sure to train your employees how to use it the right way as well.
Education
You can have the most iron-clad fire response plan in the world, but if your employees are ill-trained it is useless. Make sure to facilitate fire preparedness workshops at least a few times a year to educate your employees.
Be Firewise
Having adequate plans will ensure that your employees know what to do during a fire. Training also plays a vital component. With the right combination of planning and training, your employees will be firewise and stay alive.
Use the tips in this guide to ensure that your fire abatement strategies are up to snuff. Get the best advice about many different subjects by checking out other content on our page.
