Every year there are around 650 fires in the workplace, fire presents significant risk to business, not only can it destroy valuable stock equipment and building infrastructure, it can also seriously injure or even cause death to employees or visitors.
Many causes of fires in the workplace could be avoided if proper fire safety is managed. As an employer with people in a workplace you have a legal duty to maintain fire safety on your premises which means keeping employees or visitors to your premises safe from fire and its effects.
Having a fire door installed is a huge advantage of reducing the devastation caused by fire, it can contain fire and smoke to a designated area which aids in escape and also allows a longer time for fire services to respond to.
Legislation states that fire doors are needed in public places and the workplace. Some organisations will see a fire door as a ‘fitting’ rather than a necessity, however the repercussion of not having one is greatly increased compared to that of having one installed and correctly. Fire Doors should be seen as one of the most important pieces of fire safety equipment and not as cosmetic or something that keeps the cold and draught out, adding fire safety and value to your business.
Not having the appropriate fire safety measures in place can be troublesome, especially when the fire services enforcement deem your business as less than adequate in fire prevention and with regards to the equipment that you may have. Having a fire door installed will benefit your business ensuring that you are adhering to the correct safety measures, Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order (RRFSO), but also in terms of your self, providing adequate fire safety equipment.
There are many common mistakes made with fire doors in the workplace, such as employees keeping fire doors propped or wedged open with fire extinguishers or wedges. By doing this they are inadvertently putting your business & lives at risk. There are obvious reasons for having both these fire safety measures in the workplace, but by doing things such as propping or wedging the fire doors open with a fire extinguisher completely diminishes the sole purpose of having this Fire Door & Fire safety equipment in the first place.
Having a correctly installed & maintained fire door and the right fire safety equipment in your workplace can prevent the devastating effects from fire, loss of data, stock and valuable assets, all of which can be destroyed in a matter of minutes. A FD30 fire door can contain a fire in a separate area for up to a minimum of 30 minutes if installed & maintained correctly, allowing courses of action to be taken to ensure lives & property are saved, as well as valuable business information & data protected.
At Fire Doors Rite we offer a 34 point industry specific fire door inspections that can be carried out at your place of work, this fire door inspection will help determine the appropriate fire doors for your workplace circumstances, so please contact us now for further information or guidance.
