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Businesses of every size and in every market have faced challenges and uncertainty throughout the past two years, which means that many small tasks have fallen by the wayside. One facet of your business that you need to be proactive about is safety. This is particularly vital if you manage a workplace, whether that be a retail location, office or warehouse.
All workplaces need to have essential safety tips & procedures in place, including fire safety policies. Fire safety training should be conducted every 12 months at least, and you should review and refresh your policies during this time as well. We discuss this in this latest article.
Select A Meeting Point For Evacuation
It’s vital that you have a meeting point and procedure in case of an evacuation for a fire. Even a small fire means that your property will need to be evacuated until the issue has been resolved. As such, you need to make sure that you have a safe meeting point where everyone can gather, and you can check that everyone is safe. Review your meeting point regularly and check that it is large enough to hold everyone who could potentially be in the commercial building. If the meeting point is unsafe or uncovered, then consider choosing another location or making the space more comfortable and safe.
Use Clear Signage
Once you have a plan in place for a fire evacuation, you need to make sure that it’s clear where individuals need to go. This is particularly important if your work environment welcomes visitors and customers, as you won’t be able to practice your fire safety plan with them. Consider using bold signage to make it clear where individuals need to go, where the fire exits are and where the meeting point is. Check out this selection of safety signs from Label Source to find the fire safety signs you need for your workplace.
Appoint A Fire Marshal
Managing your fire safety and evacuation policies and ensuring that they are always up to date can seem like a gargantuan task. Still, you don’t have to do it alone just because you’re the business owner or workplace manager. Instead, you can appoint a fire marshal who can ensure that everything is constantly up to date and host any fire drills. This position is often highly coveted by employees, as it allows them to make their mark on their workplace and showcase their dedication to their job. As a result, you should easily be able to get a selection of candidates for the position. If you have a large commercial property, then you will need multiple fire marshals, so consider appointing one for each floor or department.
Check For Any Risks In Your Workplace
As well as preparing a plan in case the worst should happen, you should also try to reduce the chances of a fire occurring in your workplace. While there are fire safety regulations that you have to abide by, there are also considerations you can make. You could, for example, consider adding extra fire extinguishers, particularly around high-risk areas such as kitchens. You could also review your chemical storage and property layout to reduce any chances of a fire breaking out. By being proactive, and continually adapting your fire safety procedure, you can create workplace safety and reduce the risk of a potentially devastating fire.