If you already run your own business, you will understand the huge amounts of paperwork which you have to get through each week. One of the easier pieces of paper to put to one side is the ones to ensure that your business is fire protected. You may believe that it would never happen to your business, but you have to be aware that your workplace should always be protected from fire. There are various things which you can do to your business to ensure that your workforce, business and customers are protected from a fire at all times.
Fire Precautions
The first thing which you should do is to ensure that you are preventing any fire from breaking out in the workplace. To protect your business from a fire breaking out you should always ensure that all electrical devices and appliances in your business are switched off overnight. If you have plug sockets which are left on for long periods of time or plug sockets which are overloaded, you may find that your business is at a high risk of a fire breaking out.
It is now illegal to smoke anywhere indoors in the workplace. To ensure that no one violates this rule you should provide designated smoking areas outside the building where it is safe for your workforce and customers to smoke.
Practice Fire Drill
No matter what your business is, you should always have a practice fire drill. If you practice a fire drill, your staff will always know what to do in an event of a fire breaking out. If a fire were to breakout your staff would know exactly what to do and where to locate themselves safely outside the building. You should always update your staff with the latest fire drill and protection procedures.
Fire Hydrant
A fire hydrant can make a huge different in an event of a fire. You should know if you have a fire hydrant located near your business, but you may be aware of occasional testing of the fire hydrant fitting. If you are not aware of any testing taking place of the fire hydrant fitting you should make this known to your local council who will ensure that proper checks take place.
Evacuation
You may find that in the case of a fire breaking out in your business that you will have to completely evacuate the building. You should always ensure that you are prepared to evacuate a building quickly, to ensure that you are you should always make sure that fire exits are clearly marked. You should always make sure that there are never any obstructions at fire exits or coming up to fire exits.
Steve Watts owns his own business and knows the importance of fire safety for businesses.