Developing a fire safety culture: Humble beginnings

There are a number of organizations that take fire safety seriously, taking it beyond the minimum recommended by fire safety codes and standards. Some preconceived notions however create negative perceptions about fire safety in other organizations. The notions include;

• it only matters in fiery industries handling pyrophoric substances; this makes people feel too safe to be worried about fire safety
• if no fire has broken out before, why bother
• as long as there is some equipment (detection and alarm system, sprinkler, fire extinguisher etc)   in place it is done
• it hinders business with too many requirements

Well, there is no one size fits all solution to establishing fire safe organizations as the considerations depend on various factors including but not limited to whether there is a life risk, evacuation considerations, type of occupancy, the value of the building and its contents, business continuity options, the size of building or area at risk, extent to which fire is likely to spread, fire load (the weight of combustible material per unit area), construction of the building - materials, compartmentation and the need to protect adjacent risks.

The above factors for consideration undoubtedly require fire experts to evaluate and give appropriate advice and recommendations.  

My concern in this article is to give advice on some humble initial steps any organization could take to develop a fire safety culture and ensure the safety of their people and assets. It is not only strong worded policy documents that develop culture; some simple and repeated behaviour given reasonable emphasis is also very useful.

In developing a fire safety culture, the simplest but probably the most important that any organization can work on is fire prevention. Every person can prevent fire if some simple rules are followed, one does not have to be a fire expert to prevent fire. Hence an organization has every individual within their entire workforce to prevent fires.

Some small humble steps are adequate to start the journey. ‘Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible’ (Francis of Assisi). The issues to be discussed here are general and we probably hear about them quite too often and most probably talk about them quite as much. The problem is many people and/or organisations are not practising them thus compromising fire safety in their workplaces. It does not require expert training but simple tool box talks to inform the workforce about the importance of these simple practices.

Fire prevention

I would like to look at fire prevention issues in terms of

:

• general fire prevention practises which apply to every workplace
• equipment fire risks
• materials risk (that is fire risk posed by materials used, handled or stored)
• behavioural risks (fire risk emanating from human behaviour)

General issues

 The general issues which apply to every workplace, whether one is working outside or inside, in an office or in a workshop or in a warehouse include removal of waste materials, management of flammable materials and ensuring that fire safety signage is in place where required.

Bins or any waste receptacles should not always be left until they are full to the brim to be emptied. Various types of waste are fuel for fire and if a fire start the waste will aid in rapid fire growth.  If there are less waste materials the fire may not grow as fast and it could be extinguished faster without much effort and before it becomes too dangerous.

Flammable materials of any type (solids, liquids or gases) and quantity should be well managed in the workplace. Issuance of these should be controlled, correct labelling should be in place, only the minimum required at a time should be present in the working area and storage should meet all the requirements of such materials. A bit of discipline is required here since some of these controls maybe seen as hindrance to work processes resulting in routine violations of the controls.

Standard signage plays a pivotal role in reminding personnel of some essential fire safety issues that we cannot keep talking about every day. Signage also gives the first induction to any visitor to the workplace before we even know his name. The visitor gets to know such information as where to smoke and where not to smoke and the emergency exit route or the exit through standard signage.

Equipment risks

Equipment used in the workplace should be sourced from reputable suppliers/manufacturers with approved quality standards. The CE mark, for example, is an indicator of high quality standards. Equipment usually cause a fire to start due to some fault and most of these faults can be easily detected and corrected if simple care is given. Daily checks must always be carried out by the user and provision of a checklist which has to be signed helps to ensure that this is done as required. Any faults should be reported and management should be quick to roll out the corrective action otherwise employees may not see the value of reporting the faults.

Periodic inspections and tests should be done when due and usually experts are required to carry out these inspections and tests. An inspection or test report should be given and management should act on any recommended action without delay. In the interest of personnel safety if the equipment has not passed a test it should not continue to be used. Test certificates should be issued where equipment passes required tests as proof that it is fit for use.

Equipment that requires lubrication should be lubricated as necessary to avoid friction and generation of heat during use.

Materials risk

Various materials used in the workplace can be combustible or flammable. Flammable materials have already been discussed under general fire risk issues and it is beneficial to give necessary attention to ordinary combustible materials used in the workplace as well. Ordinary combustibles must be stored, handled and used in a manner that minimises fire risk, even paper. Generally always ensure that all ordinary combustibles are away from potential sources of ignition. For example smoking should not be allowed in an office due to the presence of paper and fabric.

Behavioural risk

Housekeeping and smoking are examples of aspects of behaviour that affect fire safety in the workplace. The arranging of goods in the right place, in correct quantities or levels, in good order and within goods of the same category are good fire prevention practices. Never store ordinary combustibles together with highly flammable materials.

Smoking areas equipped with hot ash and cigarette stub receptacles should be provided and discipline is required to ensure the use of the facilities.

Conclusion

The subject of fire prevention may not be so easily exhausted due to the diverse industries and industrial processes in place today. Even the office setting and practice is no longer ordinary and common in all organisations as technology paces at supersonic speed. Thus the fire prevention needs of various organisations may vary greatly. However this can provide the basic steps of behaviour modelling and development of a fire safety culture in any organisation.