Fire alarms are a crucial part of the health and safety of any commercial building. Whether you are running a large commercial building or a small shop or café, making sure that you have working fire alarms can make a big difference in the event of an emergency. Fire alarms are designed to sound an alert as soon as fire is detected, which can sometimes mean the difference between life or death in the event of a catastrophe. In most settings, a fire door is legally required to be self closing. This means that they have a fire door closer fitted to the top of the door for extra safety - read this blog post from door controls direct to learn more about this small, yet vital, piece of equipment. While you might be doing as much as you can when it comes to taking fire safety steps and precautions at work, accidents happen and can be unpreventable.
Where to Install Fire Alarms
Ideally, fire alarms should be installed in central locations where they will pick up on the early signs of a fire from anywhere in the building. Where to install a fire alarm can depend on the size, layout, and other factors pertaining to the building so it’s a good idea to get professional advice when it comes to ensuring that you get the most from the installation. If your building has multiple floors, then it’s important to ensure that there is at least one fire alarm on each floor. For larger buildings, you may need several fire alarms per floor in order to ensure that the whole building is covered.
How Often to Test Fire Alarms
Making sure that the fire alarm is working should be a regular part of your fire safety strategy. You can get professional fire alarm testing for commercial properties where the alarms are inspected to ensure that they are in good working order. This is worth doing at least annually. You can also test the fire alarms yourself on a more regular basis. Many businesses and commercial buildings have a set day of the week where the fire alarms are tested. This should be made clear with signs throughout the building so that anybody inside at the time knows what day and time to expect the test and is not alarmed by it.
Other Fire Alarm Strategies
Along with testing the fire alarms, it’s a good idea to regularly test your evacuation process and make sure that everybody is aware of what they need to do to stay safe in the event of a fire. It’s a good idea to set up a meeting point for evacuations at your commercial building such as in the car park. Ideally, this should be a good distance from the building itself. On a regular basis, it’s a good idea to hold a fire drill. This should be separate from any regular fire alarm testing. You can do it without warning in order to get a more realistic idea of if your strategies are working. Sound the fire alarm and have everybody evacuate the building and meet at the designated meeting point. You may also want to consider fire marshal training for some employees if needed.
Fire can devastate any business, so making sure that you have working fire alarms and good fire safety strategies in place for your commercial property is crucial.
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