Industrial Fire Safety Tips

Fires cause significant damage, serious injury and loss of life. Disasters such as these can be prevented easily with appropriate planning, fire protection, training and commitment of employees throughout your organization. Seek to identify the sources of potential fire hazards to dramatically reduce the risk to your company.

Fire Hazard Assessments

• Prevention is your first line of defense against loss due to the devastation of fire. Deploy members or your safety team to seek and identify potential sources of a fire outbreak. Safety team members should take an intense approach to auditing the facility or work area to document any potential problems. A risk assessment team should report back to the supervisory staff with their observations and initiate corrective action immediately.

Fire Extinguisher Training

• It is important to train your safety team in the use of your fire extinguishers. Improper use may cause the fire to spread and result in a failure to extinguish the fire. Extinguishers come with a safety pin that keeps the trigger locked to prevent an inadvertent discharge. When a fire breaks out, you'll need to remove the locking pin. Always aim the nozzle at the base of the fire. Fires are susceptible to spreading if you do not execute this basic maneuver properly. Squeeze the extinguisher's trigger, and gently sweep the spray back and forth along with width of your fire to maximize coverage. Once the fire has been extinguished, open doors and windows to properly ventilate the area.

Evacuation Procedures

• Prepare, document and teach employees the evacuation plan. Your company's evacuation map should be posted throughout your facility. Emergency phone numbers to fire departments, police and ambulance companies should be part of your evacuation map. This information must be large enough to be clearly readable by people who may be under significant stress during a fire emergency. Your company should have plans for regular, recurring fire drills with designated people to take head counts at predetermined locations outside the building.

Corrective Action

• It's paramount that your organization take swift corrective action when your safety team uncovers potential fire risks during hazard assessments. The company can suffer sanctions due to findings from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections, and there can be severe liability insurance consequences as well. The price you pay to correct potential fire risks now is much smaller by comparison. It also demonstrates the seriousness of your organization's commitment to the health and welfare of employees.