Fire Prevention Tips for Office Workers

If you work in a busy restaurant, hectic factory or chemical plant, you probably already take fire protection pretty seriously. After all, your job requires you to work around open flames, high heat, hazardous chemicals and other potentially dangerous situations. Unfortunately, many office workers do not have the same appreciation for the hazards of their jobs. They think working in an office is totally safe, that they do not have to worry about fires breaking out or evacuating their workplaces.

Working in an office may not be classified as hazardous, but that does not mean there are no dangers to consider. Fires can, and do, break out in office buildings every day, and a lack of training and appreciation for the damaging effects of fire can leave business owners unprotected.

No matter what the nature of your business or where you are located, you need to make sure everyone in the workplace understands the basics of fire prevention. You can start by making sure all workers know where the fire extinguishers are located and how to use them. No matter what the nature of your business, it is important to have fire suppression equipment available.

It is perhaps even more important for workers to be aware of the fire hazard posed by overloaded circuits and improperly used power strips and surge protectors. When used properly, these devices can be valuable for office workers. When daisy-chained together or overloaded with too much equipment, they can pose a significant risk of fire.

Giving workers the authority to report potential fire hazards and take immediate steps to mitigate them is vital. It is one thing for an office worker to see an overloaded circuit. It is another to give that worker the authority to unplug excess equipment and report the situation to a supervisor or safety officer.

Keeping the office free of clutter is another way business owners and frontline workers can reduce the risk of fire. A cluttered workplace is an inefficient one, so cleaning up boxes of old paper, unused equipment and other detritus should be good for the bottom line and fire prevention.

If you are responsible for running the office, you should be looking for potentially unsafe conditions like clutter behind and under desks, obstructions around electrical outlets and the like. If you notice any of these problems, you need to fix the issue right away and notify the affected employees. It may be that the employee simply needs more training on fire prevention and office safety protocols.

Installing active fire suppression systems is another way to reduce the risk of fire and mitigate the damage if a blaze does break out. If you are retrofitting an existing building with a sprinkler system, you will need to make sure there are sufficient sprinkler heads to deal with a fast-moving fire. If you are building a new office, you can consult with the builder and local fire department to determine what size fire suppression system is needed and where it should be located.

Fire suppression is not just for factory workers. You may think there are no perils to working in an office, but the risk of accidental fires is everywhere. Knowing what to do and how to spot potential hazards is the best way to keep your office fire-free.

If you're looking for more tips on fire prevention, you can discover more here!

Share