Disasters or mishaps do not come with a warning signboard in their hand. The onset often is sudden, and it takes just minutes to spread it all over. Out of the many disasters/ accidents, fire disaster is one of the very common and fast-spreading, one. It can happen anywhere, like houses, hospitals, schools, very likely in restaurants, and offices.
According to NFPA, on average the US fire department responds to 3,340 fires in office properties every year. It is a matter of great concern to face such complicated situations and requires it to be handled with accurate diligence or losses.
It is indeed not everybody’s piece of cake, to handle and control the fire spread in their premises or vicinity. Apart from the equipment, like fire extinguishers; it requires great expertise to combat such a sensitive act of controlling fire from getting wild and taking lives.
Not everyone can handle and use the fire extinguishers placed in places where there are a number of people, perhaps a fire extinguisher training course can play a remarkable role in the hands-on experience of controlling a disaster that could be many a fold.
What is a fire extinguisher?
A fire extinguisher is used in an emergency situation. It is an active fire controlling device that is used to extinguish or control small fires. It consists of a handheld cylinder pressure vessel that contains an agent that is released to extinguish the fire. However, fire extinguishers cannot work in an out of control and wildfire that might reach the ceiling, emits smoke or there are explosion hazards. In this case, fire brigade expertise would be required.
Types of Fire Extinguishers:
There could be various reasons for fire alerts at your business property and therefore various types of extinguishers are available to combat the maximum onset of fire accidents. Following are the different types:
- Water fire extinguishers
- Water mist extinguisher
- Water spray fire extinguisher
- Foam extinguishers
- Dry powder extinguishers
- CO2 extinguishers
- Wet chemical extinguishers
With dry chemical extinguishers normally, nitrogen is used; however, water and foam extinguisher typically use air.
Every business and companies’ workplace has a threat of, the staff and the security of the premises. Whether it is a white-collar office or a blue-collar workshop, all have its own safety issues and are bound to face danger in case of poor safety procedures. These things need to be properly managed and one of the best ways is by not contracting out the safety measures, rather training your employee to cater to any emergency situation.
Here are the top 7 benefits of installing fire extinguishers in your offices:
1. Temporary fire relief
Installing fire extinguishers in your office/ business premises can also be used to provide temporary fire relief when exiting any building under fire. Normally it takes time to make your way towards the staircase and fire exits are only through the stairs. Fire extinguishers work best on very small or contained fires, like a pan on the stove on fire, fire in the wastebasket or electrical appliances burnt with flames. However, fire extinguishers are an integral part of the corporate and business industries, for the best safety measures, which can be best described in the quote, ‘better be safe than sorry’.
2. Catch before it spreads
In case of a fire, the first few minutes are critical to the whole eventual severity and occurrence of the fire. When you are dealing with the dangers of fire, like damage, injuries, and dealing with the clean-up and repair. There is just a mark of a minute or two between the scare of a fire and a disaster within the same.
It is, for this reason, that fire extinguishers should be installed in every workplace or office, and the employees should get the proper training to combat within the split of a second in order to avoid a disaster that could take months to recover. According to the European study, fire extinguishers can be very useful and stop the flames before they become a wildfire. This study states that almost more than 4,500 incidents were controlled with the help of the extinguishers. Almost 80% of the recorded incidents were able to stop the fire from spreading.
3. Saves lives
The most important and integral benefit of getting a fire extinguisher installed into every office is to save many lives that are held at risk in case of a fire disaster. These type of property fires kills millions of people at one time. No matter how small the fire might be, it is very likely that the fire can get out of control within a spur of a second. With this scenario, it gets very difficult for people to escape from it. The fire extinguishers should be placed in places where it is easier to stop the fire from spreading by containing the blaze easily with the help of this portable equipment. There have been several injuries and deaths as a result of the property fires around the world. However, when a fire extinguisher is able to hold the spread of a fire, it can undoubtedly save many lives.
4. Protects the environment
The fire aftermath is ridiculous. The early extinguishing of the blaze by the fire extinguishers, saves a lot on the side of business and lives but also minimizing the spread of environmental pollutants.
5. In line with business ethics
Apart from offices, it is imperative for the schools and hospitals to have fire extinguishers installed, as their first line of defense in the event of a fire. Safety measures are an integral part of performing ethical businesses. According to occupational safety health administration (OSHA) standards, fire protection and prevention should be adopted as absolute non-negotiable business ethics. The building and premises must be equipped with proper fire extinguishers, along with adequate maintenance on a regular basis, and the staff members are well trained to use such equipment as the basis of fire safety measures.
6. They are portable
As the introductory and the first instant measure to control the fire right away, fire extinguishers are the most portable and handy devices that can be handled easily by any person. Due to their portability, they can be moved around in case of your business relocation. Their life is totally dependent on the maintenance and care by the management of your office.
7. Easy to use
As stated above they are the easiest first line of defense to prevent the premises of getting wrapped into the fire widespread. They are easy to use once you get the hang of it. You need to know the PASS technique, in order to work out the steps of its use
- Pull the pinout of the device.
- Aim the nozzle at the fire source.
- Squeeze the lever to release the agent.
- Do a sweeping motion as you squeeze the lever?
Conclusion
By providing and servicing the fire extinguishers, your business will escape from facing great monitory losses as well as the life of the people. Do not ignore the health and safety measures and keep your property safe.
