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Fire is a very real threat to businesses. If a fire were to break out within your workplace, it would be more than just documents and equipment put at risk. Your whole team and company would be in danger. The consequences of a workplace fire are devastating, with hundreds of workers being killed and thousands more being injured every year. To protect your business, you have to take action. With that in mind, here are six smart things you must do to improve fire safety. 

1. Keep Office Clutter Down

Offices can become cluttered very easily. New furniture is bought, but the old stuff stays, and paper accumulates. When a workspace is untidy, it’s easy for fire doors and escape routes to become blocked. This would make it difficult to safely exit the building in the event of a fire. Rather than put your employees at risk, you must purge the office space of unwanted things. You can also direct the attention of your employees to this useful site.

2. Ban Any Hazardous Items

Matches, lighters, and cigarettes are just a few of the many items that could result in a fire. For this reason, you must make sure that these things are kept away from your business. You don’t need to ban your employees from smoking, but you should make a smoking area away from the building. Some employers ask that staff keep their smoking paraphernalia in their lockers too. 

3. Invest In Safety Features

There are a number of safety features a business must have to reduce the threat of fire. Fire detection and alarm systems are crucial, but there are many others to consider, including fire and smoke curtains. If you intend to install such features, you should turn to an expert, like A1S Group. This offers peace of mind that the protection measures have been put in place properly. 

4. Set Workplace Kitchen Rules

If your workplace has a kitchen inside, you must make sure that it is used sensibly. When employees leave their food to cook unattended, it risks a fire breaking out. For this reason, you should ask that staff only cook if they intend to remain in the kitchen while doing so. It’s also crucial that, like the rest of the building, the kitchen area remains tidy and free of clutter. 

5. Have An Evacuation Plan

While fires are always dangerous, they’re much more of a threat if employees don’t know what to do when one breaks out. Everyone has gone through fire drills before, if not in the workplace, then at school. However, you must make sure that your staff know the evacuation plan. This should be taught in staff training, but must be reiterated during fire drills too. 

6. Display Fire Safety Notices

During an emergency situation, it’s easy for panic to take over. No matter how many times you’ve been through fire drills, the evacuation plan could completely slip your mind. For this reason, you should display any important information on signs throughout the building. These should be used to point out fire hazards, extinguishers, and exits, as well as an escape route.

To fireproof your business, make sure you follow the advice above.