It’s everyone’s worst nightmare in the world of business, where the fire alarms and smoke detectors start to blare and it isn’t a scheduled or mandated drill. It is not a drill and the fire has started, posing a risk to your guests, staff, and your place of business. In order to prevent this nightmare from becoming a reality, you need to know how to keep everyone safe from fire risks.
This article is going to help you out with that, and once it is done you can fireproof your business and ensure that everyone is kept safe in case a fire does break out.
Get expert fire safety advice and equipment installation
While you can focus on keeping everything secure yourself, you really shouldn’t. Focus on getting experienced help from qualified professionals because fire safety is no joke and you don’t want to worry about mistakes with fire safety because of mistakes you made yourself. There are plenty of organizations that specialize in public and private sector fire safety that you can hire and work with, and you should value their expert advice as you keep working to fireproof your business.
Check your smoke detectors and fire extinguishers as often as you can
Batteries in smoke detectors can die and fire extinguishers can expire, so you need to make sure to check them. Fire extinguishers can last about 10-12 years, and the disposable fire extinguishers need to be replaced every ten years. Rechargeable fire extinguishers need to be recharged by professionals every six years.
Finally, your smoke detector batteries need to be replaced about every 10 years as well, and you should take action if any smoke detector starts to chirp because the batteries need to be changed.
Make sure you have detailed maps to the exits
Fires can be very scary and nerve wracking for people, especially those who are guests and are unfamiliar with where the exits are and how to get to them from where they are. So make sure that you have detailed maps of your hotel and that they are kept updated and visible for everyone to read.
Additionally, you should make sure that your fire exits are fully labeled and should also be well lit too in order to make sure everyone can see them. The more help you can provide your guests and your staff, the more everyone will be kept safe during the event of the fire.
Having dedicated safe areas where guests with mobility issues or guests who might find themselves cut off from a means of escape by smoke or fire can also be very helpful. Creating areas out of fireproof materials where they can be protected until help arrives can save lives and keep everyone safe, so make sure to build a few.
You don’t want to run afoul of any fire codes.
Protect larger areas
Finally, the larger areas of your hotel such as lobbies, reception areas, and kitchens can be very vulnerable to fire. Not just because fires are more likely to start in that area, but also because they can quickly spread smoke and fire to the rest of the hotel.
So if you can focus on mitigation of the fire in these larger areas and shut the smoke and fire off from the rest of the hotel, you can save lives and also control the fire in these larger areas, because they are often where the exits are!
Keeping the guests and staff safe during a fire only requires some preventative planning and help from experts and then if a fire does happen, you know that your hotel will be safe as will the people inside.
