14 Tips to Avoid Fire Damage In Your Workplace (Part 2)
When a fire breaks out at either your home or in the workplace, the result can send your life into turmoil. Even when everyone gets out safely and injuries are either light or nonexistent, the damage from a small or large fire can have lasting effects that don’t get cleared up for weeks or months.
Fire safety should always be a top priority in the workplace. This is why we’ve made it a point to create a list of easy-to-follow tips that will keep employees and customers safe. Recently we covered the first set of seven tips, which mostly focused on prevention. Now, we’re back with seven more tips that involve how to prepare and handle a blaze:
Encourage Basic First Aid
When a fire breaks out, there is always the possibility that someone will be injured. This can include burns, of course, but people may also sustain injuries from falls or scrapes as they leave the building. Encouraging your employees to be familiar with basic first aid can help both employees and customers until emergency personnel arrives.
Train Employees on the Use of Fire Extinguishers
There are two elements at play here. First, you want to make sure that every person in your building knows where the fire extinguishers are located and how to use them properly. Second, it’s important to know who is most comfortable in using these extinguishers when a fire breaks out.
Sound the Alarm
When a fire breaks out, throw the alarm right away. The sooner other people in the building can be alerted to a fire, the more likely it is that everyone will get out safely. And with most alarms, either the fire department or a monitoring station will be alerted once it has sounded.
Evacuate Immediately, As Needed
Once a fire breaks out, it’s best to evacuate the building so that everyone can stay safe. If the fire is small and can be extinguished quickly, there may not be cause for an evacuation. However, exiting the building is still a good idea because even a small fire can spread quickly and with little warning.
Use the Posted Escape Routes
Every building, especially ones that consist of multiple floors, should have a posted escape route on each level. As an owner or manager, you need to make everyone aware of this escape route. As an employee, you should familiarize yourself with it and refer back to it periodically to refresh your memory. This can save everyone precious time.
Avoid the Elevator
While jumping into an elevator may seem like the fastest way to exit a building, the elevator’s integrity may have been compromised. And if many people attempt to ride the elevator, exceeding the recommended weight can make things even worse. Even when you’re at a higher level, the safest way to exit a building is via the stairs.
Never Go Back Inside
Fires can get out of control very quickly, so it’s very important that you don’t go back into a building once you’re outside. If anyone is unaccounted for, inform the emergency responders right away and let them know where the person was last seen. And, this goes without saying – your phone is NOT that important!
If your home or business has fallen victim to water, fire, mold, or any other type of damage, it’s important that you act quickly and effectively. The professionals at Abbotts Fire & Flood have the know-how and equipment to get the job done right so that the interruption of your daily lives is as brief as possible. Contact us today!
