If you own a business, you probably know that fire extinguishers are required by law in your building.
Few, however, know some other things about fire extinguishers that can keep its property and workers safe and its facility compliant. Read on to learn why fire extinguishers are so important to your business, and what you need to know about them:
The Significance of Fire Extinguishers
Fire extinguishers top the list of essential safety equipment as they can save your building and your employees if a fire occurs.
Properly installed and maintained extinguishers can put out or slow the spread of a fire, giving the people inside more time to escape and restricting damage to property. They’re also a legal requirement and have to be appropriately placed or you may incur penalties.
What Can Happen if You Don’t Care About Fire Extinguishers?
If a fire extinguisher is poorly placed and maintained, lots of bad things can occur.
First, you might get fined if you violate the rules established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA).
Second, you may be discouraging you from putting your employees and your property in higher risk inadvertently. If your building doesn’t have the proper, functioning fire extinguishers, a fire could spread more easily, endangering anyone in your facility and wasting your property.
What You Need to Know About Fire Extinguishers
Here are some fire extinguisher facts every business owner should know:
1. 1 – You Should Have the Proper Type of Extinguishers
This is because there are several types of fire extinguishers and each is designed for use on a specific type of fire. Which ABC, CO2, or Class-K extinguishers your building needs will vary depending on the type of business you’re running and how your building is set up.
If you need assistance with understanding which type best suits your needs or whether you are in need of purchasing new extinguishers, or merely having your existing ones inspected, please do not hesitate to contact one of our highly trained professionals.
2. They Must Be Inspected Regularly
Someone, whether it’s you or an employee, needs to check your extinguishers once a month and write down what you find. Furthermore, it is necessary to have a professional inspection annually.
3. They Expire and Need Recharging
Fire extinguishers don’t last indefinitely. Even if you don’t discover damage or malfunction during your monthly inspections, you do need to regularly replace your equipment. They may also need to be recharged to ensure that they’ll work in the event that you need them to put out a fire.
4. Your Building Has Placement Requirements
And even with the right extinguishers for your building, if they are not correctly placed on the flow of your building’s layout, you can still be fined or leave yourself open to costs of property damage that are extreme. They must be readily available and at an organized location for fire suppression.
5. You Can’t Simply Ditch Old Extinguishers
Finally, fire extinguishers must be disposed of properly.
You can often drop them off at your local fire department for disposal, or take them to a facility that handles chemical disposal.
Are you prepared to bring your building into fire extinguisher compliance?
Get the professionals at Brazas Fire a call and find out what you need to do to your building to make it compliant for fire extinguisher code.