How Do You Prepare for a Commercial Fire?

9/25/2022 (Permalink)

Commercial fire is every business owner’s worst nightmare. Business owners with common sense will protect their assets with a decent insurance policy to ensure they can rebuild in the event of a fire. But what about protecting your most important asset: your own life and the lives of your employees?

To avoid the unspeakable tragedy of losing those you employ in a fire, it’s good to have a fire escape plan. Here are a few tips to ensure your emergency escape plan is sound:

1. Ensure your business has the proper number of smoke alarms. In newer homes, the National Fire Alarm Code (NFPA 72) requires hard-wired, interconnected smoke alarms with battery backup on every building level, outside each work area, and inside each office. If your building is older and smoke alarms are not already in place, install them on every level and outside each work area at a minimum. Test your alarms once a month and replace the batteries at least once a year.
   
   
2. Teach employees what smoke alarms sound like and how to respond if they hear one. If your smoke alarm has a test feature, set aside a training in which you teach your employees the fire escape plan and include a smoke alarm test. If it does not have a test feature, there are videos online which provide demonstrations of what smoke alarms sound like.
   
   
3. Ensure everyone in the building knows of two ways to escape from every room. It’s also essential to establish a meeting spot outside the building. Depending on the size of the building, this may require a customized escape diagram. 
   
   
4. Establish an emergency communications plan. As part of your building’s fire escape plan, make sure everyone knows who to contact in the event of an emergency and how. 
   
   
5. Practice escaping from your building at least twice a year. This may seem excessive, but fire drills can save lives in the event of a real fire. 

Call us for additional information regarding commercial fire damage.