COVID-19: Fire Safety Advice for Businesses

The Coronavirus epidemic has changed the lives of everyone over the last year, and will continue to have an impact for many years to come.

When it comes to businesses, jobs, operations, and offices, we are all working to find ways to move forward and get back to “normal”.

For businesses who are continuing to operate, or planning to open up as lockdown restrictions ease, we want to share some fire safety advice.

Your business may not look the same as it did before, but the need for fire safety remains constant.

Undertake a fire risk assessment

A fire can devastate your building premises, cause disruption and loss of revenues, as well as potential injuries. Not only that, but failure to meet Government fire regulations can land you in legal trouble.

So, where should you start?

All business premises require a fire safety assessment. It will help make sure your business premise is prepared to reopen safely and mitigate the risks to the building, staff, and customers.

Review your fire curtain needs

A fire curtain is a temporary wall that will descend from the ceiling to provide a blockage or obstacle partition in-between two areas when a fire occurs. It will help save your life and prevent smoke and flames from spreading throughout your building or business.

Restaurants, with their open flames and cooking equipment, are an obvious business type that should have a fire curtain fitted as a protective measure to deal with the worst-case scenario.

A carefully placed fire curtain between the kitchen and the bar may be the most sensible option, but one of our expert advisors would be more than happy to make other suggestions specific to your premises.

Whatever your business or building type, we can provide expert advice tailored to your specific needs.

Check your fire extinguishers

Fire extinguishers come in a variety of different forms. All of them are pressurised containers filled with fire-extinguishing material. They can be filled with water (with water additives), foam, carbon dioxide, or powder.

Just as with fire alarms, it’s important to have your fire extinguishers checked regularly. You don’t want to discover your fire extinguisher doesn’t work when you need it most.

If there’s been some staff changes, you need to check that you have enough people on the premises who have been trained to use a fire extinguisher.

Test your fire alarms

Fire alarms can sense heat and are available with a range of additional features including sprinkler systems.

Every business should have a fully-functioning and regularly tested fire alarm. With larger premises having fire alarms as part of a wider system that can be linked directly to local authorities for faster response times.

Make sure your fire alarm system is fully functioning and has been tested, particularly if your business premises have been sat empty for a long time during lockdown.

Get in touch with Ultimate Fire & Smoke Curtains Ltd

For more fire safety advice and a free fire curtain quotation, contact the Ultimate Fire & Smoke Curtains Ltd. Talk to one of our expert advisors and tell us exactly what you’re looking for.

Give us a ring on 0191 501 6779 or email [email protected]