Now is the time for your startup to start taking fire safety a little more seriously. There are so many things that need to be juggled and paid attention to when you run a startup. You’re probably focused on managing your team, making money and building contacts. Of course, all these are important when you are running a small business. But are any of them more important than fire safety and other safety concerns in the workplace? The answer to that is probably not. So, don’t sideline fire safety or treat it like something that can be taken care of another time.
People die every year as a result of fires. It’s not a problem that is going to go away anytime soon. To make sure that your business is ready for the very worst that can happen, you will have to take decisive action now. Taking action after something bad has already happened will be too late. Not only could people get hurt or killed, but the business will be finished if a fire devastates it. Is all that worth it just because you want to save time or focus on other things right now? Read on to find out about what you can do to start prioritising fire safety today.
Don’t be Tempted to Cut Corners
When you cut corners, you are less likely to take fire safety issues seriously. That’s not what you want to happen, so don’t let it. Make sure that everything you do is done in a safe and responsible kind of way. If it’s not, your business will suffer greatly. Of course, you want your business to be efficient and sustainable. But that doesn’t have to mean that you do things badly or shoddily. You will live to regret it if something does go wrong and this later leads to a fire in the office. Then you’ll be sure that cutting corners is certainly not worth it at all.
Fit a Suitable Sprinkler System
Sprinkler systems can be a lifesaver if a fire does break out. Having alarms is important because they tell everyone to evacuate the building. But they don’t do anything to halt the fire. Whereas, if you have a good sprinkler system in place, you can be sure that the fire is put out. They can sometimes cut off the fire at its source, stopping it from spreading further. This is exactly what you want if you are looking for ways to make your office safer. You can buy nitrogen generators that can be hooked up to your system. They’re found at sites like www.ECSCorrosion.com/product/ecs-protector-nitrogen-generator-system/. They should make things even safer too.
Nominate One Fire Warden in the Office
Every workplace should have one fire warden who helps you with fire safety throughout the working week. Of course, this is not a duty that you should force on anyone. If someone is taking care of fire warden duties against their will, they won’t carry them out in the proper way. That could spell disaster for your business, so make sure that you ask for a volunteer. You could give them extra perks or some extra pay for doing this. You should find that there are plenty of people willing to come forward and help you with it. It’s not the kind of duty that is too taxing or difficult.
Make Sure Your Fire Escapes Can be Used Properly
How easy is it to get to a fire escape in your office? It should be perfectly easy, and if it’s not, your business and employees could be in danger. Fire escapes that are blocked or locked will make it impossible for your employees to get out and reach safety if a fire starts. You can’t afford to make it difficult for fire escapes to be used because this is a matter of life or death. You should have a look at every fire escape door in your workplace and ask yourself how they could be better. Maybe you could clear a wider and more accessible path towards the fire escape. You should also make sure that nothing is blocking the fire escape signs.
Fit Emergency Lighting
Fitting emergency lighting is another important thing to do. When you have the right lighting in place, people will be able to get out of the workplace quicker and safer if a fire does break out. Emergency lighting refers to the lights that come on to light up fire exits and escape routes in the event of a fire. When a fire does start, it can cause the electrics to blow out, meaning that seeing where you’re going becomes difficult. And smoke can also make the job of reaching a fire escape even harder. That’s how important this is. So, if you don’t have the right emergency lighting in place, make a change.
Train All Your Employees on How to Deal with Fires
Training should be a huge part of your company’s approach to fire safety. When your employees are not given the right fire training, you will have problems. People who are not informed or educated tend to make bad decisions. And some of those bad decisions could lead to an increased fire risk in the workplace. That’s really not what you want, so insist on training for everyone. That training may consist of telling people what to do to avoid fires, as well as what to do if a fire breaks out. Whenever your business hires someone new, make sure that you give them training before they get to work. It could help to dodge a disaster.
Understand the Different Extinguishers and Buy the Right Ones
There are a lot of different fire extinguishers. The only way to make sure that you have the right ones in your workplace is to understand them. Carry out some research and learn about what each of the fire extinguisher options does and what they should be used for. You can then look at the particular fire risks that you have in your office and consider which ones you need to buy. This is an important thing to get right, so don’t shy away from it. Don’t just assume that you only need one type of fire extinguisher, because that might not be the case. It all depends on what kind of work and processes are carried out in your workplace. You can learn about the different types of fire extinguishers at websites like selectsafetysales.com/t-fire-extinguishers.
Install Fire Safety Signs That Can be Understood By Everyone
Are there enough fire safety signs in your office? If there aren’t, that’s something that you are going to have to change. You can’t expect your employees to behave in a way that is safe if they don’t know the risks. Whenever there is a specific fire risk, there should be a sign to inform them about it. And you should also make the fire safety rules easy to access and read. Any signs that are not easy to read for everyone should be replaced. Maybe they are old, and the information is now out of date. Or maybe the words and images are fading, making them difficult to understand. It might even be the case that you need the signs to feature multiple languages.
Consider Fire Safety at Every Stage
Whenever your business starts to do something new or takes on a new challenge, you should consider fire safety. It’s one of those issues that can’t be put to one side and treated as separate from what your business does. It has to be considered and taken into account whenever anything is done. For example, when you are holding an office party, you should consider what part safety will play. And you should also think about how you can make your products safer and more resilient to fires. These things are all important if you want your business to stay safe and succeed. It’s all about never taking your eye off the ball.
Hold Regular Fire Drills and Treat Them Seriously
Fire drills don’t tend to happen that often in most workplaces. It’s easy to ignore them or forget about the importance of them. But that kind of attitude is wrong, as well as potentially dangerous. You need to make sure that you hold these kinds of drills as regularly as you can if you want to take the threat more seriously. Failing to hold them could leave your employees unprepared if a real fire took place. And when you do hold fire drills, don’t treat them as a laugh. They should be genuine chances to assess your business’s approach to a fire scenario. You can then judge how they are handled and improve things in the future.
As you should understand, fire safety is not something you can afford to take lightly. Yes, it’s unlikely that your workplace will ever experience a real fire. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t treat the threat seriously. If you fail to do so, you could end up with huge regrets later on.