Fire Safety in the Office – Why So Important?

This article will address the importance of fire safety in the office. Recent trends show a steady increase in spending by property and facilities management companies to ensure that the office complexes they own or manage are secured from a fire hazard point of view.

Any modern office space these days is equipped with lots of electrical equipment. A simple walk around the office floor will overwhelm you with the number of gadgets and electronic devices that play a salient role in the way an office works. From computers to the cables and ports they are connected to; from the printers to the fax machines; from the audio/ video conferencing capabilities; from coffee machines to microwaves, refrigerators and dishwashers, the list goes on and on. Not to speak of the heavy generators and the centralized air conditioning units.

With the increase on the consumption of energy, there is also an implicit increase in the public exposure to fire hazards and threats. If organizations are not proactive in addressing these threats and taking appropriate measures to mitigate the associated risks, the consequential impact could be fatal, and some cases even catastrophic. That is one of the reasons why companies invest so much in the safety of their employees through the installation of proper fire safety devices and by conducting mock fire drills.

This serves as a preventive measure so that in the event something goes wrong, companies are prepared on how to cope with the danger causing minimal threat to human lives and property. Many different fire safety devices are currently available in the market. Let us highlight a few of them that are most commonly used in most modern offices.

Fire Blankets:

These are safety devices designed to extinguish small and/or incipient fire hazards. It contains a sheet of fire restraint material which when placed over a fire helps in containing it.

Fire Dampers:

Classified as passive fire protection devices and are used in HVACs (air conditioning), ventilation and heating ducts. These prevent the fire spreading inside the ductwork through to walls and floors.

Fire Detection System:

These are self explanatory. They are the smoke alarms and the smoke detection systems that are used in many modern offices and homes.

Fire Doors:

Again, the name explains it all. Every modern office has separate fire doors which are useful when evacuating the building in cases of emergencies. They usually lead to a staircase as it is strongly recommended not to use the elevators in case of any fire hazards

Fire Extinguishing Systems:

A common commodity in offices these days. These consist of a set of equipment that help combat fire – typically the portable fire extinguishers, the hose reels, the water pumping systems, the automatic water sprinklers and the foam distribution systems.

Also, there are a few high technology gadgets that are available these days, for example the heat map control systems which could be installed at critical high load points to detect overheating and alert the necessary stakeholders if required.

We supply, install and maintain fire extinguishers in Luton, Bedford, Aylesbury, Northampton and Milton Keynes so if you would like to know more about the best safety measures you can take against the risk of fire, call us today at Fire and Electrical Safety Ltd and arrange for one of our fire risk assessors to come and see you.