Fire Safety in Commercial buildingsFire Safety in Commercial buildings
There is nothing more important than fire safety in any commercial building. Of course, fires pose a pretty big risk to the future of your company if your assets and even the building itself are destroyed but the safety of your people and any customers on the site is always the number one priority.
To help protect your staff and anyone else who is on the premises for any reason, you need a fool proof fire safety strategy.
In this article we are going to walk you through exactly how to ensure you have just that.
How to prevent a fire
The first step in fire prevention is to do a full risk assessment of the property to identify anything that could potentially result in a fire.
This includes any flammable materials and an examination of the building itself. In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower disaster, many high-rise properties were discovered to have flammable materials inside the cladding on the walls themselves so if you work in an office building this is something that should be considered.
Install working fire alarms throughout all common areas and in every single room on the site. Both smoke, heat, and carbon monoxide detectors should be installed for optimal protection.
Early detection is the key to a fast and efficient evacuation and will keep the risk to life to an absolute minimum if the worst was to happen despite the preventative measures you have taken.
After that ensure that you have a strong evacuation strategy including designated escape routes. All your staff should be given a copy of this information and receive any relevant fire safety training. Some of these things are not only recommended but are actually legal requirements for companies in the UK. If you are unsure what your fire safety obligations are as an employer, making sure to look them up before designing your fire safety strategy or talk to a professional security company who will be able to advise.
Hiring a security company
When thinking about fire safety, a security firm probably isn’t the first people that comes to mind. However, many of these companies, such as trusthire, who specialise in security, also offer fire warden and waking watch services to assist in the identification of fires and the subsequent evacuation.
These professionals are trained to spot any hazard that could threaten the safety of people nearby including obstacles on evacuation routes that could cause devastating delays in the event of an emergency.
By hiring a security company to at least conduct a full risk assessment of your property, even if you don’t have a full-time fire warden or security guard presence, you will be able to take advantage of their experience and expertise and reduce the risk of the worst even happening on your site.
It will also show your staff that you are serious about their safety and give them peace of mind that someone will be there to help them in the event of an emergency.