Although it’s unlikely, there’s always a possibility that there is going to be a fire at a workplace. This has an increased occurrence if the business is say a restaurant or construction site for example. However, it could happen anywhere.
Therefore if there is an increased risk of fire or even a small chance, it’s crucial all employees have the necessary training in place to stay safe and reduce the chance of injury and death. With a fire incident, speed is critical therefore it’s important team members receive adequate training to help save lives.
Keep on reading to find out about fire safety practices that can be implemented in the workplace.
Setting up a fire safety plan
Incorporating a fire safety plan helps to ensure all the employees are aware of the necessary steps to take if a fire were to occur. For example, ensuring that all employees know the evacuation points in the building, fire extinguishers and even first aid kits in case one is needed in the case of an accident.
This could potentially be implemented by having a fire safety book, for all employees to read on a quarterly basis, which in hand will improve the speed of action if a fire were to break out.
If a company conducts weekly internal meetings, it could be beneficial for the company to always review where the fire safety mesures are. The team could decide to run a game where they test each other on fire safety locations in the office.
Conducting fire drills
To ensure everyone knows what to do at the best speed possible, conducting fire drills helps enforce the skills learned at health and safety training. This will ensure the response time is quicker evacuating everyone from the building. As a part of the drills, it’s also good to check all fire alarms across the site are working to their full capability, as well as emergency number sheets.
A study by The Australian Journal of emergency management mentioned that the use of fire and safety training helped to increase the level of fire safety knowledge, as well as the accuracy of response to fire over the age range of 18-80. Therefore, conducting fire drills focuses in the team on fire safety creating a safer space for all.
Fire drills could occur once a month, to keep enforcing fire safety knowledge.
Remove fire hazards across the workplace
Another trick could be to ask your employees to search around the workplace for potential fire hazards and remove them. Not only does this help employees stay fire aware, but they can learn about potential hazards of their teammates, beyond fire risks.
Hazards could include:
- Electrical appliances.
- Storage.
- Heating.
- Smokers’ materials.
- Equipment that could cause a spark.
Part of this training could also include locating the fire extinguishers and making sure they are located in an easily accessible location.
It’s also important to check that items such as fire extinguishers are in sensible locations, so they do not act as a trip hazard.
Review the fire safety plan and promote fire safety awareness
It’s critical to ensure that the fire safety plan is reviewed for new hazards and that the employees are aware of these changes accordingly. This can be implemented through a monthly review and added to the workbook. It’s also useful to remember that the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 covers general fire safety in England and Wales, and sets a minimum requirement for all non domestic premises.
It’s also important to continue to promote fire safety awareness beyond training. If all the employees are trained and are aware of what can cause a fire in the workplace, this is more likely to reduce the chance of a fire occurring in the first place.
Overall, these are a few practices that can be implemented in employee training, and in hand will help to mitigate the chances of fire-related injury across the workplace.
