Inspect Point Explains the Importance of Fire Prevention, Protection, and Inspection
According to the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), nearly 3,500 fires break out in U.S. office buildings in an average year. The NFPA reports that these very fires kill at least 4 civilians, injuring 44 others, and causes 112 million dollars in property damage each year. That doesn’t even include fires in homes! Of course, fires devastate businesses and homes every day. But there are ways to make sure we don’t become one of these sad statistics. In this article, we’ll focus on the importance of fire prevention, protection, and inspection. Keep reading to learn more about fire prevention plans that can save your home or business from potential fire devastation.
Fire Prevention Plans
The importance of fire prevention for your family and/or staff is more than just preventing property damage. When you create a fire prevention and safety plan, you’re potentially saving lives! Create a formal document for your household or business.
Fire prevention planning should include several focal points, ultimately for the safety and wellbeing of your staff and/or family. Remember, fire safety training has as much to do with preventing a fire as it does for responding to a fire.
Emergency Response and Evacuation Plans
The occupants of your building should be aware of the procedures they need to follow in case of a fire. Fire safety plans should include a map of the building that clearly marks emergency escape routes and emergency exits. In addition, make a note of where fire extinguishers and fire alarms are located in the building. Establish a plan that explains how and when to respond to a fire.
Your safety plan may state that occupants should use a fire extinguisher to douse small fires. But if a fire gets out of control, they need to know how and where to evacuate. Fire safety plans should include guidelines as well, which should highlight the importance of fire prevention. For instance, if evacuation is the only option, occupants should make sure they close doors behind them as they leave in order to slow down the growing flames.
If able, have some of your staff complete fire safety training. Those who can both educate others and enforce fire safety and prevention methods makes for a responsible and safe plan.
Recognize Fire Hazards
Recognizing the fire hazards for your particular building is the first step in truly understanding the importance of fire prevention. This is especially true when you create your fire prevention and safety plan. Identify potential fire hazards with your occupants.
Hire a fire and life safety inspection company! Your inspectors will identify fire hazards and can provide you with the right resources, tools, and advice for fixing these potentially dangerous issues.
Preventative Maintenance
If something happens and you try to prevent a blazing fire on your own and your extinguisher doesn’t work, you’re in trouble. That’s why proper maintenance, testing, and inspections should occur regularly for your fire protection equipment and the building.
Even if your building meets all fire safety regulations and codes, it doesn’t mean it always will! By keeping up with fire safety equipment maintenance, you’re ensuring that your building is always compliant… and safe!
This means you have the right amount of fire extinguishers, fire alarms, smoke alarms, and working fire sprinkler systems. But if you don’t allow for routine fire inspections, you’re missing out on the importance of fire prevention. Not to mention you’re putting yourself, your building, and its occupants in danger.
Routine Fire Inspections
In order to respect the importance of fire prevention, you need to make sure you’re doing everything you can to stay prepared. One of the most important fire prevention messages we can give you is this: hire a fire protection company! A fire protection company will provide you with NFPA-compliant fire and life safety inspectors. They perform inspections for your building, as well as your safety equipment.
Here’s one way in which the NFPA adequately highlights the importance of fire prevention and the inspection of fire and life safety equipment. “Fire safety equipment has a big impact on reducing the average loss of life and property per fire. If there is a fire in your home [or building], smoke spreads fast and you need smoke alarms to give you time to get out. Fire sprinkler systems react so quickly, they can dramatically reduce the heat, flames, and smoke produced in a fire.”
Understanding the Importance of Fire Prevention
From the words of our dear Smoky the Bear… only you can prevent fires. Understanding the importance of fire prevention saves lives. In order to ensure the safety and integrity of your building and those occupying the building, it’s critical that you follow all safety procedures.
For a home or business, fire and life safety inspections are absolutely vital. The fire protection industry’s most important job is to protect you from potentially life-threatening situations. They do so by providing an assurance that the equipment will be able to perform the job it’s made for. Inspectors confirm equipment can always carry out fire safety protocols.
We hope this article has shed some light on the importance of fire prevention, protection, and inspections. For more information about fire and life safety inspections, check out the Inspect Point blog! We’re always here to provide you with the latest research on fire inspection software. We’re here to share the message of the importance of fire prevention to the community.
