Published on March 15th, 2022 | by Sunit Nandi

How to Improve Home and Workplace Fire Safety Standards

Fire is one of the greatest fears of every homeowner, and that’s not without reason. However, most fires can not only be stopped quickly before spreading, they can be completely prevented.

In today’s article, we’ll be taking a look at some of the most useful tips from professionals in the field on how to improve fire safety standards of your home and your workplace.

Fire Detection Systems

Fire detection systems are a great way to let the entire building know that there’s a fire if one occurs. Most of them are regular smoke detectors, while there’s a difference between smoke detectors and heat detectors.

In modern fire detectors, there’s a difference between heat detectors and smoke detectors, with most of them detecting smoke instead of heat. If they reacted to any form of heat, they might accidentally go off.

It’s best to install these detectors right above your oven and anywhere else where a fire could break out (above a furnace, for example). In factories and offices, it’s usually mandatory to have fire detectors all over the place.

This differs from county to county, but most counties in most states require offices to be completely covered with fire detectors.

Fire Prevention Systems

This is just the next step from fire detection – there are now sprinkler systems you can install, which are essentially fire prevention systems, that will go off as soon as they detect smoke.

Given how exhaustive fire safety maintenance codes are today, there are entire services devoted exactly to this. This is with good reason, as sprinkles have shows to be incredibly effective at combating fire.

These systems will activate as soon as smoke ticks off the detectors, starting a rush of water into the area and putting the fire out. It does happen that sprinklers aren’t enough, but they’re definitely useful even if they can’t put the fire out on their own.

During a fire, sprinklers aren’t the only important thing. Since lights can easily go out, it’s also important to ensure emergency lighting and clear instructions leading everyone to the emergency exit.

Fire doors should also be available at all times, while they’re also a good way of slowing the fire down and giving people more time to escape.

Safety Education

This could be the most important step when it comes to preventing and stopping fires. Teaching your family (or employees if you’re a business owner) what to do in case of a fire can be literally lifesaving.

Most businesses nowadays have at least one fire extinguisher in the office, but it often happens that people don’t know how to use it. Even though the instructions are very clear and simple – people panic when there’s a fire and that can stop them from doing even the most basic of tasks.

This is why education, be it from firemen or from a private service, with the intent of teaching your and your employees or family on how to use a fire extinguisher, can prove to be crucial.

These educations usually go a step beyond simple fire extinguishing and they teach you how easy it actually is to start a fire, what to avoid and what to do in case there’s a fire you can’t put out.

There’s a very simple rule firemen like to remind us of: during the first minute of a fire, you can usually put it out with a bucket of water. During the second minute of a fire, usually two buckets are needed. Once the clock strikes three minutes, it’s usually time to call 911.

This rule might be rudimentary and sound childish, but it’s here to remind us that fires can spread at a blistering pace and people often underestimate just how powerful and quick a fire can be.

Maintenance

Lastly, it’s important to remind everyone that just because you have the state-of-the-art fire safety system installed doesn’t mean that you’re out of the woods.

These systems are, just like all systems, susceptible to wear and tear, which is why it’s important to have them checked out and fixed by professionals every once in a while.

Your county’s website will have all the necessary information on how often you actually have to hire a pro to do a checkup of your fire systems, and the authorities are usually very serious and careful about this.

Keeping track of your safety system’s health will ensure that it works perfectly in case of a fire and doesn’t choke when it’s time to save lives.

Tags: fire safety, home, standards, workplace

About the Author

Sunit Nandi I'm the leader of Techno FAQ. Also an engineering college student with immense interest in science and technology. Other interests include literature, coin collecting, gardening and photography. Always wish to live life like there's no tomorrow.