Every business owner or manager should not only be aware of the basic principles of fire safety, but they should make sure that their employees are educated as well. The first step to making your business safe is to create a plan of action for use in the event that a fire should occur. Local enforcement agencies will have specific fire safety codes, as well as guidelines for fire safety education, but there are things that all business owners can do on their own to ensure the safety of workers if there is a fire. Every business must be equipped with portable fire extinguishers. They should be kept up to date, and every employee should know the location of each fire extinguisher in the building. They should be kept in an easily accessible location, and they should never leave the designated areas unless there is a fire. There should also be enough fire extinguishers that no employee should have to move more than 50 to 75 feet to access one in the event a fire breaks out. The extinguishers should be inspected regularly. Develop an evacuation plan. This plan will differ from one type of business to another, depending on how many workers there are, and the type of business. A floor plan should be readily available to employees, and it should include an outline of exits as well as the planned evacuation route and an alternate route. The layout of the floor plan should also include any fire alarms. The evacuation plan should also indicate which employees are to be responsible for certain duties in the
event that the building needs to be evacuated. These duties can include such things as closing doors and making sure that everyone is accounted for. Even if a fire drill isn’t part of your areas fire safety laws, they should be included in your fire safety plan. These drills should be carried out both when they have been announced, as well as unexpectedly. Everyone should take part in the drills and the evacuation should be timed. When leaving the building in the event of a fire, even a few seconds can make the difference between everyone getting out safely, and tragedy. Keep a record of these drills so that evacuation times can be compared, and changes in the plan made as needed to improve response time.