How to Develop a Comprehensive Fire Safety Plan for Your Industrial Business
You might be shocked to know that a fire occurs in a structure every 60 seconds (FEMA: Fire Facts).
I am sure you must have heard about the cases of fire accidents in industrial businesses, leading to the destruction of building structures, equipment, and inventories. In some extreme cases, even severe injuries and deaths.
As a business owner, having a robust fire safety plan provides me with peace of mind, helping me ensure the safety of my employees and assets, continuity of business, and compliance with regulations and laws as well.
But how to make this plan? If you also have this question in mind, then you are at the right place, stay tuned as I tell you all about how I developed an effective fire safety plan for my industrial business.
Understanding the Hazards
The first step in forming a good fire safety plan is to assess all the potential threats and risks, as risk assessment is practically the backbone of a safety plan. So, before the implementation of any safety procedures, our teams started by taking a tour of the entire facility, considering a number of hazards that may lead to a fire.
This included the identification of areas with a high concentration of highly flammable materials and electrical systems assessment that could pose a danger.
This detailed assessment allowed us to identify areas with the highest risks and to determine what kind of and where the fire suppression systems, fireproofing, and fire exits were needed. After identifying the potential threats, we rated them in order to prioritize the proper course of action for individual hazards.
DO YOU KNOW?
95% of direct property damage occurs after the fire has progressed beyond the early stages.
Developing an Evacuation Plan
Creating a proper evacuation plan is the most essential part of fire safety programs, as all the staff should know how to escape the premises in case a fire occurs. We attained this by visibly displaying evacuation routes, showing multiple ways for each location mapped out.
While working on it, we paid extra attention to making the routes easily navigable even for employees with special needs. We made sure that no fire exit was obstructed, and doors were easily operable, a task requiring no special knowledge or tools.
Once done with planning these routes for evacuation, we added it to our routine to conduct regular fire safety drills so that our employees are quick and confident during an actual emergency.
Remember that with a well-practiced evacuation plan, employees will be able to evacuate the building in the shortest time and safest manner possible.
Fire Safety Equipment
In addition to drafting a firefighting plan, another concern for us was to adequately equip our facility with the necessary firefighting equipment, such as fire extinguishers, fire alarms, sprinklers, and fire blankets. We installed these in locations where they would most easily be accessed.
In this step, it is important to keep in mind that the fire extinguishers installed should be of the type appropriate for the kinds of fires that could be expected to occur within certain areas of your facility- electrical, chemical, or other forms of combustibles.
For example, in smaller fires, say, in kitchens, we placed a fire blanket within reach to ensure a smothering operation is expeditiously carried out. Also, we check such appliances from time to time, for proper upkeep and availability in case of emergencies.
Training employees in the use of such tools is also required, since deploying untrained employees during a fire emergency can bring disastrous consequences.
On that note, the fire protection system market accounted for $88.95 billion in 2024 and is on the rise, as can be observed in the graph below.
Creating Awareness and Competencies
You can create a comprehensive safety plan and install the most advanced safety tools, but if your employees are not well-trained, all of it will go in vain, as they may panic or fail to take the right measures in case of fire.
That is why I have introduced regular training programs and refresher courses based on principles of fire prevention, identification of fire hazards, and response to specific fire emergencies in the work environment.
It intends for the workers to be trained in various types of firefighting equipment-operation of fire extinguishers, fire alarm systems, and fire blankets and is necessary to keep all persons updated with any modification to safety procedures or new equipment.
It is essential to pair theoretical training with the practical activities of training in fire drills and imitation exercises to provide self-assurance and confidence to employees.
Maintenance of Fire Safety Systems
Fire safety systems are not something that can be installed and forgotten. They require periodic maintenance to keep them running correctly. These include smoke detectors, fire alarms, fire suppression systems, and emergency lighting.
To ensure optimal working conditions, we perform regular maintenance from time to time by inspecting installations like sprinkler systems for functioning, and scrutinizing the wiring and battery life of fire alarms.
We ensure that fire exits/routes are not obstructed at any given time, while any broken or damaged safety equipment is replaced without delay, helping me keep my facility ready for an emergency. We have also prepared a maintenance schedule for the record for compliance purposes.
Regulatory and Code Compliance
You might be aware of the fact that fire safety plans have regulations, but they change from local to state to federal levels. In addition, they are different depending on the size of the concerned business, its location, and even its industry. This is because regulations are in place to protect both employees and property.
The rules provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, and local fire departments help us minimize and even eliminate liabilities arising from instances such as a fire breakout.
Do not forget to include those that are necessary and required in your fire safety plan, be it fire drills down, training, or safety signage records. While compliance proactively will avoid costly fines, more importantly, it can protect your employees as well.
Review and Update the Fire Safety Plan
You’ve certainly got it wrong if you think that fire safety plans can be static documents. These strategies are going to be ever-changing, as your organization expands or changes with time.
New equipment, buildings, or materials can give rise to new risks that may require attention. Equally important to note is experience in drills or real emergencies that needed to be implemented to enhance the effectiveness of your fire safety plan.
Therefore, we regularly review and update our strategies to keep the relevance and comprehensiveness of our plans up-to-date. Dynamism about fire safety is sure to keep businesses prepared for events through updated procedures and equipment information.
After all that we discussed in this article, you must have understood the significance of creating a detailed fire safety plan for an industrial business. How it requires great carefulness-right from the development of risk assessment and evacuation procedures to employee training and maintenance of fire safety systems. All these steps are crucial for workplace protection.
A company should always be well-prepared to save its employees and assets and get ready to fall into operation again at the earliest even after an unfortunate event, ensuring the continuity of business. Remember that the preparation or lack of a fire safety plan can make all the difference between minimizing and incurring maximum losses.
