A fire can cause serious damage to the business you have worked so hard to build from the ground up – not to mention your employees. We’re going to take you through our fire prevention tips for small businesses, so you can make sure you’re prepared for the unexpected and are able to minimize damage as quickly as possible.
Appointing a dedicated fire prevention/safety officer for your workplace is important. Safety officers are not elected by fellow employees, but are appointed by the business owner, in order to manage occupational health and safety issues in the workplace. In the event of a fire, your health and safety officer is your go-to person for understanding and implementing the necessary procedures.
Rob Starr of Small Business Trends talks more about why appointing a safety officer is a great idea:
No matter the size of the business, it’s important that an evacuation plan is put in place in the event of a fire and that every one of your employees knows what it is. This should be a part of the employee’s basic training when joining the organization and not something to set aside for a later date.
Alexis Writing of Chron.com expands on the idea of a evacuation plan in “Fire Safety Tips for Businesses”:
“Every workplace or business establishment must have an evacuation plan. Keep in mind, however, that even the most perfect plan will be useless if only the person who made it knows about it. Go through the evacuation plan and make sure that every staff member and employee is knowledgeable about what to do.”
Not only is it mandatory to have your fire alarms and fire extinguishers checked and maintained regularly, but it is something you should personally be concerned about. Although it’s unlikely that your business will go up in flames, it is certainly not impossible. And in the unlikely event that it does happen, you do not want to be the one who didn’t get your fire equipment checked, causing your own equipment to go up in flames.
Theselfemployed.com explains why maintaining your fire detection equipment is absolutely necessary in “Important Fire Safety Tips for Small Businesses”.
“Again, while it’s a legal requirement, it’s still something worth bearing in mind and doing more than the minimum toward. Fire alarms should be regularly checked and maintained, with an up-to-date sprinkler system installed at the very minimum. These alarms should also be automatically linked to the emergency services, so there is no delaying their arrival.”
Now that you have a better understanding of fire prevention as a small business, you need to go ahead and make sure that your equipment is properly maintained and ready to go. Check out how we can help with fire extinguisher inspections, recharges, and many other mobile services to keep you and your business safe.