Fire Safety in the Workplace

As far as possible, a company should take proactive approaches to prevent fire. An active, committed safety committee is one of the foundations for this approach. Extensive training, both through formal methods, and informal tool time talks, not only in fire safety, but also in proper equipment use are the keys. Diligence in separating materials and processes which could cause ignition is an effective approach. Proper hot-work methods, and permits are necessary measures to minimize fire hazards. Limit switches, detector switches, and alarms for both building systems and individual machine areas are all proactive measures. Safety department sign-off for any adjustment or reuse of the area can detect and minimize potential fire hazards. Consistent safety and 5S audits can catch such issues as potential electrical hazards, ventilation hazards, housekeeping problems, and other potential problems that could cause fire hazards. Proper security must be put in place, to prevent non-employees intent on harm from entering the building.

Because there is no perfect system to prevent fire, there must be a system in place to manage the fire. Automatic, self-contained, fire suppression canisters can stop fire spread before whole-system back-up sprinklers are activated. Again here, effective, consistent, training is needed to make sure every employee understands what to do during a fire. Proper methods for egress will need to be addressed. Fire Safety Guidelines will need to be developed and readdressed each year. A method must be established so that visitors, the disabled, and other at-risk groups will be able to safely exit the building.

Fire department operations design is an important area for consideration. However, other measures should be given priority. If other measures fail, fire department operations are measures of last resort. For fires necessary for fire department support, all other measures should have been exhausted and personnel removed so that firefighting becomes a property management operation, rather than a rescue operation.

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