A fire occurring in the workplace is a very rare occurrence. Surprisingly, what is even rarer is a fire breaking out that is down to failure of equipment; instead the majority occur due to human oversight.
This highlights some very important things – whilst fires are rare, fire safety training is extremely important to ensure that people know how to avoid setting off a blaze in the first place.
Very few workplaces see fires in the course of a year, but all businesses need to ensure that they know how to deal with the effects of a fire and that they have fire protection equipment available to deal with any blaze. Whilst you may well have the best fire evacuation drills known, many small blazes can be tackled at source and in turn a huge amount of potential damage, danger and cost can be taken out of the equation.
The right fire safety plan is therefore integral and should involve training on fire prevention, the right protective equipment and fire drill training to ensure that blazes can be dealt with safely, and the right fire detectors in place to give all staff plenty of warning.
When many people hear fire alarms they will simply assume that it will be a drill. As such, it is often worth telling people when to expect a drill so that they can get used to the process, but respond accordingly should an alarm go off without any warning.
The right fire protection equipment and the right approach to training alone can reduce the chances of a fire significantly. Looking at percentages of how many fires take place in the workplace every year doesn’t really give you a good idea of how likely a fire will be though – instead, understanding if your training and equipment are right will give you a far better indication of how much you are at risk.