Fires in the home and workplace can cause a significant amount of damage, along with a serious risk of injuries and even death. Even with that aside, it can cause a lot of emotional damage and stress, with valuable and sentimental possessions being destroyed by smoke and heat. Naturally, it makes sense to take fire safety extremely seriously, and there are a lot of laws and regulations that need to be followed.
Fire safety laws particularly apply to the workplace, but it’s also a good idea to follow fire safety practices at home too. In this guide, we’ll share some tips on how you can improve fire safety, including information on how fires start, fire risk assessment and the use of equipment such as fire exit signs to promote safety.
How Do Fires Start?
All fires, no matter where they’re located, are started by a source of ignition and a source of fuel. The ignition provides the heat or sparks to release the energy within the fuel, causing combustion and a fire. The fire will burn for as long as there is fuel and oxygen remaining, causing damage to anything it touches.
The type of fuel and source of ignition can vary. For example, a lit match and a canister of petrol would quickly start a fire. However, fires can also start from cooking stoves, faulty electrics and other sources. Fuel could be anything that’s capable of burning, though some fuel types are more flammable than others. While a growing number of materials used in the home and workplace are made to be fire-resistant, others can be extremely flammable. When storing items, it’s important to think about how flammable they could be.
Fire Risk Assessment
When considering fire safety, it’s important to take a look at potential fuel and ignition sources in the area. This will form the basis of your fire risk assessment, helping you identify potential fire hazards and come up with ways to reduce them. When performing your risk assessment, you should look at things that could potentially be a source of ignition or a source of fuel and make a note of them. In addition, you also want to consider things that may be a risk to proper evacuation procedures.
The first stage of the assessment is to identify the risks and evaluate them based on how much of a risk they are and the potential severity of the hazard. Then, think about ways you can reduce the risks. This may be as simple as testing electrical equipment regularly to prevent faults or to move fuel sources away from sources of ignition. Finally, make sure you’re also increasing the fire safety equipment required, including things like extinguishers and smoke alarms.
Emergency Evacuation Procedure
While small fires may be able to be put out with a fire blanket or extinguisher, most of the time it can be unsafe to try and deal with them. If you encounter a fire, your best course of action is to raise the alarm and proceed to the nearest emergency exit. While some people will want to rescue possessions or spend time trying to get other people out, it’s always safer to exit the building as soon as possible and call the fire brigade once you’re safe outside.
Evacuating quickly and calmly is key, because it helps ensure that people can get out of the building before they succumb to the effects of the fire. While the heat can be damaging, it’s often the smoke that causes the biggest problem, reducing visibility and preventing you from being able to breathe.