Do you know what extinguisher to use? One of the best ways to protect your small business a fire extinguisher is to have good in you so that you can use to stop a fire from spreading if it does occur. However, by choosing the extinguisher for your needs can seem a daunting task. Here is some information to help you take this important step to protect your business and comply with the law.
The 2005 Act
The Regulatory Reform Order 2005 in England and Wales all businesses need to designate a specific person to be responsible for maintaining fire safety on site. This particular person was to be an individual with some control on the property, as the owner or senior manager.
In addition, this person had the responsibility to conduct a risk assessment of all property and determine what changes should be made to improve fire safety. In addition, evacuation plans must be created for the protection of the individual to the company.
Although the law does not specify that extinguishers should be added to the premises, she said that additional measures to minimize risks should be taken. This suggests that the fire extinguishers to add your business would be a wise choice.
Making decisions Extinguisher
Before you start buying a fire extinguisher, you need to have done two things. First, you must have known how many need to be purchased. Fire safety experts recommend having at least one extinguisher for every 200 square meters of floor space. Youll need to know the size of your company to determine the number that you should buy.
Second, you must have completed your fire risk assessment in order to determine what types of fire extinguishers will be better in your company or in certain parts of your business. Remember that an extinguisher can not answer all your needs of fire safety.
There is also a good idea to familiarize yourself with the six classes of fire extinguishers and classes that are recognized in the United Kingdom. Here is a list of six classes of fire for you again.
Class A fires fire, wood or other organic
Class B fires involving flammable liquids
Class C fires involving flammable gases
Class D fires involving metals
Class E fires involving electrical
Class F fires involving materials cooking oil, grease, and even
Understanding these different classes of fire is important because you will need this information to choose the correct extinguisher on the basis of the types most likely to fire you might have in your company. For example, if you run a restaurant you want a wet chemical fire extinguisher in the kitchen which is designed to meet Class A fires and Class F. However, you may prefer a dry powder fire extinguisher for the rest of the restaurant, because it can be used for class A, B, C, E and fires.
Posted on June 7, 2010.