If a fire were to start in your workplace, what would you do, and would your coworkers know where to go?
Don’t take a chance or expect orderly calmness during an unpredictable situation. Instead, design, implement and practice a fire safety training program. Here’s how you can get started:
The Foundation for Your Fire Safety Training Program
Workplace fires are extremely common: The National Fire Protection Association recorded nearly 130,000 non-residential fires resulting in 1,400 injuries, 150 deaths and $4 billion in property damage in 2022 alone. And while the usual suspects (factories and commercial kitchens) are present, incidents can go back to malfunctioning equipment, dated wiring, negligent smoking or intentionally setting fires.
Considering these concerns:
- Your fire safety training program needs to encompass three categories of behaviors: fire-prevention practices, hazard identification and emergency response.
- Once you have a framework here, make sure your facility is outfitted with appropriate fire prevention equipment, including smoke detection systems, fire alarms and fire extinguishers.
- Begin to develop an emergency response and evacuation plan and fire safety checklists based on the size of your workforce, employee locations and specific risks. Solutions for an office will vary significantly from those for a construction site or materials handling facility.
- Realize that fire safety training isn’t optional: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires all workplaces to make a plan and introduce it to everyone in your facility, including contractors, visitors and temporary service providers.
- Fire safety training isn’t once-and-done. Expect to schedule sessions multiple times per year and update your programming in response to compliance changes and new hazards.
- Determine who will present the training: an in-house team briefed on your plan and how to use all fire safety equipment or a third-party group.
With these points in mind, develop your fire safety training program based on the following:
Prevention
Workplace fire prevention boils down to two broad factors: installing fire detection systems and minimizing fire risks.
For the former category, fire detection systems must be automated, properly maintained to work as expected during an emergency and control the spread of the fire. The baseline typically encompasses a primary suppression system like a sprinkler that activates when it detects smoke, a temperature increase or electrical sparks and alarms that sound in response to similar hazards.
Keep in mind that detection systems aren’t uniform: While water may be sufficient for some workplaces, nitrogen gas-based extinguishing is essential for areas with elevated electrical fire risks.
Along with this primary suppression strategy, fire extinguishers and blankets help control small fires before they have a chance to spread.
Along with maintaining and upgrading these systems, your training program must instruct your workforce in minimizing fire risks, including:
- How to properly store combustible and flammable materials.
- Controlling welding, grinding and other activities involving sparks, heat or an open flame.
- Safely smoking on the premises.
- Cleanup measures to avoid breakroom and kitchen fires.
Identification
Yet, even with detection equipment in place, your training program must cover workplace factors that increase fire risks and related prevention tactics. These typically include:
- Electrical issues, like overloaded outlets, space heaters and frayed wires, and the need for regular inspections.
- Flammable liquids and gases and how to correctly store them.
- Kitchen risks, from oil and grease to defective or improperly used cooking equipment, and practices for monitoring these environments.
- Combustible materials, from dust to papers to chemicals, and how to minimize fire risks in office and industrial settings.
- Sparks — for instance, in welding and automotive environments — and the conditions required to control this hazard.
Response
The response portion of your fire training program must cover:
- How staff should take action when a fire starts: This entails outlining procedures for unplugging equipment, using fire extinguishers, alerting your workforce, evacuation and administering first aid. Realize that different risks — a breakroom incident versus an electrical fire — require different procedures. You may need to train select individuals on using fire extinguishers and activating sprinklers.
- Evacuation routes: Map out primary and secondary evacuation routes based on exits, risks and assembly points. Assign a handful of employees to lead these efforts, including directing employees to a safe, outdoor location and taking head counts. Practice and time these steps with periodic fire drills, perhaps requiring team leads to take a different route each time or account for a separate group of hazards.
- Maintaining fire detection and suppression equipment: Schedule yearly tests for fire extinguishers, smoke alarms and sprinklers, and make sure emergency lights and exit signs are properly illuminated. Additionally, if a device uses batteries, add a fresh set at least once per year. Record every inspection and test, and keep this information in an easy-to-retrieve location for fire marshals.
Fire Safety USA has your primary and secondary suppression solutions covered, from sprinkler parts and foam to extinguishers. To strengthen your workplace’s fire response, browse our selection to update your equipment today.