Employers must care for their employees, visitors, and clients when they are on their business premises. If you’re an employer, it’s vital to ensure your business is prepared for an evacuation plan to ensure your employees and others within your business office are protected in the event of a hazard such as a fire outbreak.
Irrespective of whether your office is set in a commercial property, kitchen, living room, or any other place, a fire safety plan is something you must prioritize. A fire can threaten your business and employees, causing chaos and confusion to reign. If you have an office to run your day-to-day business operations, always prepare yourself for the worst and ensure you’re ready for any emergencies that might pop up.
How to Ensure Your Office is Prepared for a Fire
While you may have costly materials and equipment in your business office, everyone’s safety should always be the priority in case of a fire emergency. Suppose you’re lucky to have an office in a decent-sized commercial property. In that case, it is easy to plan an evacuation process that anyone on your business premises can easily understand.
The first step to ensure your business is prepared for a fire is to develop a basic evacuation plan. You should also partner with a reputable fire protection company like Tier 1 Fire that will show up immediately once you call them and help you put off the fire within the shortest time possible.
How to Prepare a Basic Evacuation Plan
If your business office entails only a few staff members and is based in a small building, emergency evacuation in a fire emergency can be easy. However, suppose you have many employees working in an office located in a larger commercial property. In that case, you should involve your building management when preparing a plan for evacuation in the event of a fire. Your building manager should inform you of the routes to follow in case of an emergency involving fire.
Assign Key Roles and Responsibilities
It is essential to have a clear plan on how an evacuation is carried out in case of fire. This involves appointing a person to spearhead an evacuation and ensuring everyone knows what to do during a fire disaster. Key roles typical to fire disasters include:
*Fire Warden
The responsibility of a fire warden should include alerting employees and calling the fire department in case of a fire disaster.
*Route Guides
In the event of a fire in a business office, route guides should ensure the evacuation process is calm and orderly and that all the escape routes are clear.
*Fire Extinguishers
You should ensure that several employees are trained on using fire extinguishers to fight the fire before it spreads and gets out of hand.
Designate an Assembly Location for People to Gather
It is crucial to designate a place that your employees and others within the office building can gather in case of a fire disaster. The assembly point must be far from your office building to prevent people who gather there from being vulnerable to shattering glass, heat, or falling debris.
Practice Fire Drills
Training employees with periodical drills is usually vital if you want to have a successful evacuation in a real fire. Through successful repetition, your staff members will be prepared accordingly and recall everything they must do in case a real fire pops up in your business office in the future.
