Tag Archive for: Fire Systems Professionals

Business Fire Alarm

Workplace Fire Safety: What Do They Do?

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WHAT EMPLOYEES SHOULD DO IN A WORKPLACE FIRE

A workplace fire can quickly become a nightmare scenario for any organization. One second, it’s business as usual. The next: an alarm is blaring, ceiling sprinklers have triggered, and employees are in a state of panic. Total chaos. Fear is a natural reaction to any life-threatening situation. But there are precautions every business can take to prepare its people. Running routine fire drills, educating staff with workplace fire tips, and clearly communicating throughout an evacuation drill or fire can ultimately save lives.

Fire Alarms Only Work If Employees Respond

The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) is the authority on human behavior during a fire. Their mission: understand the psychology behind what influences decision making when a fire or evacuation occurs in an effort to inform safety programs.

Before we dive into workplace fire do’s and don’ts, it’s helpful to understand some common reasons for the lack of response to an alarm. In addition to your list of behaviors, you’ll want to educate employees on the importance of quickly reacting when an alarm is triggered.

The SFPE has discovered that people often ignore fire alarms for four main reasons:

  • Not recognizing the signal as a fire alarm
  • Being unaware of the proper response
  • Feeling loss of confidence in the system because of nuisance alarms (false alarms triggered within a short period of time)
  • Difficulty hearing the signal

Regular fire drills will help employees associate a specific pattern of sounds with the need to evacuate. When it comes to proper response, education is key. The SFPE recommends thorough training and implementing an emergency notification system to effectively inform employees that a real threat is present. Nuisance/false alarms are typically the result of a system malfunction. If more than three occur in one year, they can undermine trust in the alarm system. Businesses should conduct routine inspections to ensure that systems are fully functional (and false alarms are kept to a minimum). Alarms should also be audible enough to hear over ambient noise and inside closed offices. In addition, the alarm should not be shut off until the emergency situation has concluded. Studies have shown that occupants will assume there is no longer a threat if an alarm is turned off after five minutes.

Workplace Fire Education

Once you’ve thoroughly communicated to your people the importance of fire alarm response, leadership should then educate every employee on what to do (and not to do) during a fire or evacuation drill. The following list of employee do’s and don’ts can be customized to fit the specific needs of your organization. You’ll want to post them in common areas, distribute them to fire safety wardens in preparatory meetings, and send reminders to review the list throughout the year.

In a workplace fire, DON’T:

DON’T panic: While it’s understandable employees will be frightened during a fire, maintaining a level head is crucial to survival. Fortunately, running fire drills should help ensure a calm reaction since everyone will understand exactly what to do.

DON’T gather personal belongings: Fires spread fast. In as little as 30 seconds, a small flame can blaze out of control. Beyond grabbing your mobile device (if nearby), leave items behind. Immediate evacuation is the top priority.

DON’T take the elevator: Because a fire can quickly disable a structure’s electrical system, a stalled elevator can end up being a death trap. Employees should be instructed to use stairwells, fire escapes, or alternate routes.

DON’T attempt to extinguish an out of control fire: Containing a large fire should be left to properly trained firefighter professionals.

DON’T leave doors open: Oxygen fuels fire. Instruct your Fire Wardens to shut doors as they enter/exit them in an effort to keep the fire contained.

DON’T remain in the building/facility: There are numerous (sometimes invisible) dangers present during an office fire. Carbon monoxide poisoning and structural failure can jeopardize workers who remain in place.

DON’T ignore the company plan: Fire drills are designed to provide everyone with a shared plan to safety. By going rogue, employees put their own lives at risk as well as endangering their coworkers.

DON’T return into a burning structure: While it’s human nature to want to ensure the safety of all employees, re-entering a dangerous fire could mean two lives lost instead of one.

DON’T ignore status check-in: Leadership needs to account for every employee. If you receive a mobile check-in requesting your status (and you’re in a safe location), respond immediately to expedite the process.

DON’T flee the scene once safe: It might be tempting to get as far from the site as possible. But if you’re a safe distance away, workers should stay in place until they receive further instruction.

In a workplace fire, DO:

DO remain calm: Part of every organization’s fire drill should be to instruct their people not to panic. While there will be a certain level of anxiety during a fire, reminding everyone to remain calm is always an evacuation best practice.

DO take only a mobile device: As mentioned, fleeing from the fire should be everyone’s top priority. If a worker’s mobile device is immediately accessible, they should grab it in order to stay informed and reply to status check-ins.

DO listen to your leader: A designated company Fire Warden should provide necessary instruction as they help guide all employees to safety. If an individual has questions, they should direct them to the company’s fire safety team.

DO immediately notify proper authorities: Someone on the fire team should be tasked with notifying the fire department at the first signs of a fire. Don’t assume that systems have triggered alerts.

DO assist mobility-impaired coworkers: Whether an employee has a sprained ankle or a permanent mobility issue, some workers will need extra assistance to make it out of the structure safely.

DO close doors behind you: As mentioned, open doors can exacerbate an already dangerous fire. This task should be part of the fire team’s checklist after all employees are safely out of a particular area.

DO use evacuation routes: During evacuation, remind everyone where the nearest exits are (established during your fire drills) and what routes should be avoided.

DO gather in a safe location: Your fire drill will have established a safe meeting place some distance from your building/facility such as a parking garage or lot.

DO account for everyone: Have the Headcount Manager communicate missing or injured employees to first responders/law enforcement.

DO check in with leadership: Once everyone is safely away from the danger, there will undoubtedly be questions surrounding next steps. In order to minimize the risk of false information spreading, the fire team should relate all information.

As a reminder: All employees should be educated on fire safety behaviors and the list of do’s and don’ts should be posted in visible locations. It’s only a useful asset if employees are thoroughly aware of how to react during an incident.

Clear Communication During a Workplace Fire

Both during a fire incident or evacuation, in the immediate aftermath, and as your organization begins the recovery process, how you communicate with your people is essential. When an emergency happens, it’s difficult to find the time or clarity of mind to craft coherent messaging. Some emergency notification solutions offer Workplace Fire Communication Templates that provide pre-set messaging applicable to all phases of a fire. This allows organizations the ability to quickly inform their people across channels (text message, email, voice call, and mobile app pushes).

Because immediate communication is critical throughout a workplace fire, every organization should include fire templates as part of their fire evacuation plan.

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Excerpt from AlertMedia (August 26, 2019)

Could Your Business Survive A Fire?

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Source by AdamMiller

During the year, businesses have an increased concern about damages from hurricanes, severe thunderstorms, flash floods, and even windstorms and tornadoes. However, most businesses forget about one of the more common causes of commercial property damage, which is fire. Fires rank in the top five of the most common and the costliest types of commercial property claims. In this article, we look at businesses surviving a fire, and exactly how companies can be impacted by the fire.

 

Structural Damages
Fire can be absolutely devastating to a business, regardless of industry or business size. A single small fire can cause thousands of dollars in damages to the interior and exterior of the business, including walls, flooring, outdoor signage, plumbing, electrical systems, and HVAC units. All of these repairs cost businesses both money and time, as they must shut down the business for a period of time to complete repairs and renovations. Without proper commercial insurance coverage, businesses could face even longer lengths of time for closure and repairs while they scramble to raise the cash needed to repair and reopen their business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loss of Commercial Property
In addition to structural damages, fires can also lead to the partial or even total loss of critical tools, equipment, merchandise, and raw materials. While the costs of repairing and renovating a business structure may be high (especially without the right type of commercial insurance coverage), the added cost of replacing tools, equipment, and inventory can be too much for a company to bear, and the company may have to permanently close. It is important to ensure that the value of business-critical tools, equipment, raw materials, and inventory are well protected with quality commercial insurance coverage.

 

Lost Revenue and Wages
Another devastating setback for businesses that have suffered fire damage is the loss of both revenue and wages for employees. Even if the business owners can survive the financial hit of a fire, their employees may struggle to make ends meet while the business is closed for repairs and renovations. As a result, companies may end losing many, if not most, of their best and brightest employees because of lost wages during the closure, further delaying the business from being able to reopen to full operational status. However, businesses can prevent the loss of valuable employees by having Loss of Income Insurance, which helps companies pay for continuing expenses such as rent, taxes, and payroll.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Company Network, Emails, and Financial Records
Finally, another common loss for businesses that have experienced fire damage is the loss of computer systems, sensitive files, financial records, and corporate emails. Many small and medium-sized businesses fail to consider how valuable these records and files are until they are gone or become inaccessible because of commercial property damage. Even if the building repairs and renovations are relatively minor, the loss of these sensitive and valuable files can ruin a business’s chances of reopening, as many of these files contain contracts and vendor agreements, financial transactions and account information, and business-critical emails and legal documents. The time and expense of recreating or retrieving these digital records may set businesses back even further for reopening after fire damage.

We at Fire Systems Professionals are committed to providing businesses of all sizes and industries with quality, reliable commercial solutions needed to protect against fire disasters.

Fire Safety 101 for the Safety Professional

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Fire Safety 101 for the Safety Professional

Source: ehstoday.com

In this age of multitasking, consolidation of responsibilities and shifting job duties, safety professionals often find themselves saddled with responsibilities in the fire safety realm.

In theory, fire responsibilities appear to correlate with the safety professional’s basic safety-related duties. However, the knowledge base required in the specific areas of fire protection and fire suppression often mandate a substantial learning curve.

Safety professionals with fire-related responsibilities should acquire, at a minimum, a working knowledge of their facility’s fire systems as well as the various fire-related programs in order to be able to appropriately manage, develop and maintain fire protection and suppression programs.

 

Safety professionals often lump all fire-related activities into one area, namely, the “fire program.” In fact, there is a distinct difference in the activities involved in fire protection verses fire suppression.

In general, fire protection includes such equipment and activities as fire prevention training, sprinkler system inspection, hot-work permit programs and fire extinguisher training. Fire supression, on the other hand, includes activities and equipment that would be incorporated into fighting a fire after an ignition. Although these lines often can blur in the day-to-day management of the fire function, it is important to identify and effectively manage each function individually as well as in conjunction with each other.

 

Prevention of the potential fire is paramount in every operation. In a safety professional’s busy work schedule, appropriate time and efforts should be provided for the development, training and enforcement of the fire prevention activities. Fire suppression, on the other hand, usually involves a reactionary activity and requires more equipment-specific efforts, such as maintenance and inspection of the existing fire suppression equipment, and specific suppression activity training.

In the busy day of a safety professional, it is far too easy to let fire protection and fire suppression activities be placed on the back burner due to other pressing demands. However, safety professionals should be aware that the time and efforts spent in fire-related activities most definitely pay dividends in preventing fires or reducing the potentially devastating effects that fire can have on most operations.

Know the Equipment

It is essential that safety professionals become familiar with all facets of their facility’s fire protection equipment and systems in order to be able to properly inspect and ensure preventative maintenance (PM) programs are adequate and operational.

Additionally, it is vital that the safety professional become knowledgeable in the overall operations of the entire fire protection system and the impact the fire protection system may have on other operational systems. For example, is the house water drawn from the same tank as the fire water? If the safety professional tests the backup fire pumps, will this disturb the sediment in the tank and impact the house water and thus the overall operations of the facility?

Safety professionals should be aware that a facility may have different types of fire protection equipment that, if used incorrectly, could result in injuries or increased property damage. It also should be noted that a simple pre-analysis of fire protection equipment will allow the safety professional to develop an in-depth and adequate fire protection and suppression plan. Initially, identifying the hazards should occur in order to access the correct types of fire equipment that should be present within the facility. An example of this basic analysis is fire extinguishers. Fire extinguishers are designed to be used for many different types of fire. Each facility possesses different potential hazards that must be assessed in order to determine the correct fire extinguisher to be used for the specific potential hazard.

Know the Type of Fire

One hazard that most facilities have present is the hazard of fire. The use of fire extinguishers as a means of fire suppression is common and often “assumed” practice. As simple as it may seem, training, along with basic knowledge of different types of fires (chemical, electrical, etc.) and a skill base in firefighting, is a necessity for a safe response to the incident.

After the hazard has been identified, determine the types of fire extinguishers that are required in order to handle the threat of fire. Common fire extinguishers are designed to extinguish either Class A, B, C, D or K types of fires, and some are able to extinguish multiple classes of fires (ex: Class ABC extinguishers). It is important that employees can identify the various types of fires and be able to select and operate the correct fire extinguisher.

To ensure that all fire protection equipment works when needed, a systematic method for inspecting and maintaining all fire protection equipment must be developed and implemented. The safety professional’s “fire program” must include this inspection and maintenance process to ensure that the fire extinguisher is in excellent working condition. According to OSHA 29 CFR 1910.157, where fire extinguishers have been placed for use in the workplace, OSHA states that employers shall provide a monthly and annual inspection to ensure fire extinguishers are in good working condition.

 

Fight vs. Flight

The safest response to a fire might be ordering an evacuation of the facility in the event of an emergency where fire is present. This brings forward the question of fight vs. flight. Do I want my employees to try to suppress the fire or simply evacuate?

This should be determined early in the facility assessment for hazards. Training the employees to handle a fire-related incident brings in many unknowns when dealing with the final outcome of the incident.

For example, will employees remember their training when facing the pressure of a stressful event? Human behavior is unpredictable when put under extreme stress such as a life-threatening event. A way to manage the response of the employees is to train, train and train. Training will assist the employee in overcoming the stress present during the emergency.

This applies to all areas of safety. Should you desire the employee to fight, make sure that they receive proper training in the areas of hazard recognition, PPE, proper equipment selection, incident notification and evacuation.

Should you consider flight? Many facilities that do not have major hazards have chosen to assume the flight method in dealing with fire incidents. This arguably limits the potential liability for the employer through the reduction of the risk that may be present while attempting to suppress the fire.

In many situations, the flight method will allow for the fire to grow to a larger size. However, the likelihood and risk of potential employee injuries will be dramatically reduced when using this method.

Conversely, if the safety professional decides that it is more beneficial for employees to attempt to suppress small fires, it is imperative that appropriate personnel receive training on fire extinguishers.

It should be noted that fire extinguishers are designed to control small fires only. Fire extinguishers also can offer endangered employees a method for escape should they become trapped by a fire. A simple 30-minute to 1-hour training program on proper fire extinguisher operation could be a lifesaving tool for the employees at your facility. Many local fire departments will provide training on fire extinguisher use for facilities within their jurisdiction.

Lastly, certain circumstances, such as the hazard risks in the facility and response time of the local fire department, may require the establishment of an on-site fire brigade. Most organizations that have considered this option have elected not to pursue it if other options are available, due to the potential risk to participating personnel, the overall costs of equipping and maintaining the fire brigade, substantial equipment demands and mandatory training requirements. Safety professionals considering this option should closely evaluate the requirements under 29 CFR 1910.156.

 

Fire protection and suppression risks, although often low on the safety professional’s daily activity list, are very real risks which must be carefully evaluated and addressed appropriately within the overall safety and health plan. As we all have seen over the years, a fire within an operation can be devastating in terms of human life, impact on the operations and even the overall survival of the company. The time spent in carefully evaluating your fire protection program as well as your fire suppression efforts can pay substantial dividends in the event of a fire.

 

 

Commercial Building Fall Maintenance: Top 8 Tips

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While each commercial building’s needs will be different according to the tenants it holds, its purpose, and its location, consider the following tips when preparing your property this season.

  • HVAC:

Before tenants start to crank up the heat to combat colder temps, make sure your building’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is running efficiently and effectively. Replace filters, inspect and repair broken parts, identify and respond to cracked duct work, drain line clogs, and make sure your HVAC system is the proper size for your unit. While doing so, store or cover air-conditioning units that will go unused during the fall and winter seasons.

  • Fire: 

Service your fire prevention and safety equipment, making sure all sprinkler systems, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, and fire alarms are in working order. Also, update emergency fire procedures and schedule a fall or winter season drill so tenants can practice how best to respond.

  • Outdoors:

Winterize your landscaping, including trimming trees and shrubs to reduce exterior damage. Ensure that vegetation and grass are properly graded to avoid water and ice sitting against your property’s foundation. This can lead to interior water damage. Also, inspect the exterior of your building for cracks, stains, and leaks, which could lead to potential for safety and security breaches. 

  • Lighting:

Decreased daylight means your tenants may be more at risk for falling should hazards not be easily identifiable. Install proper exterior lighting on your commercial property, and check bi-annually that light bulbs and fixtures are clean and in working order. If public walkways have cracks, potholes, or other trip hazards, repair and seal to reduce hazards, or install signage to make people aware.

  • Roof:

Inspect and repair your commercial property’s roof for loose shingles or damage to existing flashing. To prevent the potential for ice dams to form, clean gutters and make sure they are properly secured to the building. Fall is also a good season to increase the insulation in existing attics. Doing this can decrease heat costs while also further reduce ice dam formation. 

  • Windows:

Inspect windows both inside and outside to ensure they are properly sealed. Doing so can reduce energy bills while simultaneously preventing excess moisture and mold risks. Replace windows that are showing signs of aging to avoid potential interior or exterior building damage.

  • Plumbing:

Colder temperatures put pipes at higher risk for freezing and bursting. Leaving your commercial building at risk for ater damage. Avoid the wet mess by insulating and sealing cracks and openings around exposed pipes. Also, set internal thermostats (and instruct tenants to do the same) to keep interior temperatures at 55 degrees Fahrenheit. 

  • Tenants:

Check in with tenants regarding any maintenance requests or building concerns they may have. Living and/or working in your commercial property means they are on constant alert to their surroundings. If they see–or hear or smell–something, ask that they say something.