Workplace fire safety and prevention needs to be a concern and duty of all Albuquerque businesses. Each year there are spate of workplace fire and explosions that end up in occupational fatalities. All Albuquerque businesses need to act to be sure their business building and all the equipment inside is set up safely and properly to prevent workplace fires. Losing a worker, customer, or a building and its equipment is a tragedy that should be prevented by employing fire safety steps on a regular basis.
Featured below are a set of basic strategies to follow to safeguard that your business is an Albuquerque fire-safe workplace:
Strategy 1. Keep the Workplace Together – Keep your workplace clean and clutter free. Refuse, stacks of paper, and old boxes are fuel for fires. Clutter causes problems with ingress and egress to workplace exits, fire extinguishers and fire hoses. Clean up your workplace to make your business safer.
Strategy 2. Set-Up a Designated Smoking Areas with Ashtrays – In the workplace smoking should be mandated to occur strictly in designated areas. Communicate to the entire company that cigarettes strictly required to be put out in ashtrays. Post signage that prohibits smoking in stockrooms, equipment rooms or chemical storerooms. Be sure to communicate it to the entire company staff.
Strategy 3. Fire Extinguishers – Setting up and keeping the correct type and fire extinguisher numbers is paramount. Be sure everyone in the workplace is taught how to correctly use your Albuquerque business’ fire extinguishers.
Strategy 4. Workplace Electrical Hazards – Regularly inspect your Albuquerque business for workplace electrical hazards. If any are found during inspection report them to the owner, manager, or fire department. Workplace fires historically are often caused by bad wiring or equipment with broken electrical wiring. Get bad wiring fixed asap.
Strategy 5. Unrestricted Electrical Panel Access – It is critical that all the electrical control panels and subpanels have unrestricted access 100% of the time. This is mandatory so if electricity needs to be turned off there is nothing preventing access.
Strategy 6. Business and Building Machinery Maintenance – All machinery in your Albuquerque business must be properly maintained to keep it from overheating and to prevent fire caused by built-up gunk and grease.
Strategy 7. Commercial Building Automatic Fire Sprinkler System – Emergency fire exits, firefighting equipment like fire extinguishers or fire hoses and commercial building automatic fire sprinkler systems must never be blocked from access ever. Check to make sure there is sufficient clearance from sprinkler systems when stacking boxes and business inventory. Test all sprinkler systems, smoke detectors and fire extinguishers every six months and keep then clean.
Strategy 8. Commercial Building Chemical Safety Storage Protocol – Be certain to safely store and use chemicals properly. Take the time to fully read all chemical container labels and the chemicals’ Material Safety Data Sheet to become full knowledgeable about its flammability properties and all fire hazard risks minimizing the risks from them to your Albuquerque business.
Strategy 9. Materials Waste Control and Storage – Be sure to maintain control of the build-up of all types of materials and residues in your Albuquerque workplace that are flammable or combustible. This action is prudent because will ensure they do not enhance any fires you have your workplace.
Strategy 10. Take Action to Stop Ignition – Employ the needed actions to stop flame ignition in workplace areas that involve liquid vapors or fine particles that are flammable. This can be achieved by using tools that do not spark and by maintaining control of static electricity.
Strategy 11. Workplace Exit Communication Precaution Action – Post diagrams to all workplace exits and light emergency exits with emergency exit signs that meet the local building and fire code.
Strategy 12. Emergency First Responder Contact Information – All your Albuquerque employees need to be supplied with an up-to-date emergency first responder telephone number list in the event of an emergency. Keep in mind that people lose their train of though during an emergency so be sure to include the business’ address, telephone number and building floor plan as a posting in addition to first responder telephone number list.
It never gets old stating that is better to be safe than sorry. It is the top strategy to not having a major emergency at the workplace and if one takes place, to have the information in place to reduce the harm it causes. The fact is fire emergencies and catastrophes occur and they can happen without any warning. Follow the standard for a fire emergency if there is one which is to ACT. First, A – Assess the situation. Second, C – Choose your response. Third, T – Take the appropriate action.