As an employer, your highest duty is to keep your workers safe, and few issues are more important to their safety than fire preparation. While many offices have fire prevention strategies, stopping a fire is not always in your hands. You must thus have a strategy in place to safeguard your staff in the event of a fire. To create as comprehensive and effective a strategy as possible, make sure to include:
Escape Routes for Every Room
The first element of any escape strategy should be to define a route out of each room in your building. Make sure that any exit you are directing employees to will be safe and viable in the event of a fire. If you are on the ground floor of your building, this is relatively easy— simply get employees to the nearest door, or even to windows that are large enough for a person to fit through. But if you’re high up, you’ll need to be more careful with how you guide them out. Don’t direct workers to elevators, as these are not safe during fires. Instead, find a path to fire escapes or to staircases that are sturdy enough to survive.
Once you develop an escape plan for a room, chart it on a map and hang that map next to the door. This will ensure that even during the panic and confusion of a fire, employees will be able to find the plan and make their way out of the building.
Evacuation Procedures
Even with designated escape routes, your employees may not know how to get out of the office safely. You should thus develop a procedure for exiting the building, which includes:
- Knob Testing– Before opening a door, someone should put their hands near the knob. If it is hot, that suggests the fire is on the other side, and you should find another way out of the door.
- Room Insulation– If employees can’t find a way out of a room, they should insulate themselves as well as possible in that room and wait for the fire department. This means stuffing something under the door and blocking vents so smoke can’t get in.
- Smoke Protection– Smoke inhalation is among the most common causes of death or illness during a fire. Employees should thus learn a procedure for protecting themselves from smoke inhalation, namely by covering their mouths with a wet cloth.
Once you’ve developed these procedures, practice them several times a year. The more you practice, the more easily your staff will remember them during a fire, helping you avoid panicking and get to safety.
A Meetup Place
After developing a plan to escape the building, designate an external place for everyone to meet once they are out. It should be far enough from the building that your staff will not still be at risk, but close enough that everyone will be able to get to it quickly, regardless of mobility issues. This will allow you to make sure everyone has escaped the building successfully, and if anyone doesn’t, you can tell the fire department to look for them.
To learn more about fire safety and other tips to protect your workers, contact FAST today.