Hazards at the workplace vary according to the environments—office employees could develop back problems over prolonged periods of sitting on chairs that are not ergonomic. On the hand, employees may be exposed to risks of developing respiratory issues or worse, suffering burns in environments that involve working with chemicals.
One risk that is common across all types of environments is that of fires. Its potential to cause workplace fatalities necessitates the use of proper safety protocols by managers. All it takes is a small spark to set an entire building ablaze!
Here is a list of things managers can do to minimize this risk.
De-clutter Your Workspace
Fire safety guidelines dictate that a clean, well-maintained workspace decreases the probability of fires due to negligence. Disposing off flammable waste responsibly, for instance, will really help reduce the risk.
In environments where workers are expected to deal with fire, like in a glass art factory, this factor holds particular importance because even the slightest obstruction could make you trip straight into the flame.
Install Fire Alarm Systems
It is very crucial to strategically place smoke detectors and fire alarms in the building as they also play a big part in maintaining the safety for you and your colleagues. You should ensure that your workplace has both photoelectric and ionization detectors as the former sense smouldering fires better while the latter are great with flaming fires.
Furthermore, you should get all fire alarming equipment tested occasionally so that you know that it’s functional in case of an emergency.
Appoint Internal Safety Officers
It’s very important for managers to assign fire prevention tasks to safety officers who can plan and deploy emergency protocols. Having standard procedures in place would help minimize risks in case fires break out.
Other Precautionary Measures
There are certain other preventive measures that you can take that will help you thwart any fires. For instance, you need to be very careful when handling explosive materials or delegate that task to someone who’s trained for the job. You should also unplug all electronic equipment when the day ends and not put extra load on the outlets. You shouldn’t even generate heat near combustible materials like paper or fabric.
Spread Awareness among Employees
Another very important thing that employers need to do is to train their employees and make them aware of all the things that could be possible triggers for a workplace fire. This is because prevention is very important in order to avoid the onset. And they should also be aware of the security protocol should there be one still.
In order to train your employees to deal with fire hazards and follow the correct safety protocol in case of a fire, you can enroll them in our occupational first aid and workplace safety programs in Vancouver where we will teach them everything about fires.
