Fire Extinguishers Guide For Your Business

No matter where you do business, you will need to make sure that you’re able to mitigate risk. Each and every location comes with its own set of codes and laws when it comes to health and safety. The best way to stay on top of your fire responsibilities while also protecting your employees and clients is by purchasing tools for extinguishing fires. If you’re looking for some information on how to keep your building and business safe, follow this fire extinguishers guide. This will set you on the right path in order to get the fire extinguishers that you need.

Fire Risk Assessment

Your fire risk assessment will serve as your fire extinguisher guide. The assessment will identify what risks are in what areas which will determine what type of extinguisher you need and where it should be fixed.

Installation

Fire extinguishers should be fixed in place as their location is determined by the risk assessment. They should also be easily removed if they are needed in an emergency and should be easily identified even by someone who is not familiar with the layout of the building.

You can be creative like the image to the right but must ensure that it is easily identifiable and cannot disguise it for aesthetic reasons – the red of the extinguisher is important but also the colour strip that identifies its type.

Maintenance

Part of your risk assessment will show that the fire extinguishers need regular maintenance to ensure that all moving parts are working and that there is no pressure leaks that will compromise effectiveness in an emergency. This is should be carried out regularly by a competent person such as one of our engineers and you should keep the paperwork safely so that you can prove your due diligence.

Type Of Extinguishers

There are several different types of extinguisher each designed for different types of fire. You can see our guide here about what fire extinguisher does what.

Training

Once you purchase these fire extinguishers, make sure that all of your employees know exactly where they are located, so that they can access them in the case of an emergency. Once they know where they are they need to be trained in what fire extinguisher does what and how to use them in event of a fire. You should also have periodic fire drills, in order to make sure that employees are fully engaged in the process and that they understand what is expected when such an emergency takes place.

Purchase high quality fire extinguishers for your business and keep them serviced frequently, so that you’re able to save yourself from tragedy or unfortunate circumstances. Consulting a fire extinguishers guide is a great way to start. If you are ready to take the next step, we at Fire and Electrical Safety Ltd can advise and supply fire extinguishers.