It’s a new year – and for many, that means resolutions. On a personal level, many may make resolutions around health, fitness or other goals. For your business, we’re recommending resolutions around fire and life safety.
In 2024, here are four fire safety resolutions to consider for your business to keep your people and property protected all year long.
1. Stay up to date on your maintenance.
When it comes to fire and life safety, the maintenance can feel endless. Depending on what type of business you have, you might have multiple types of suppression systems, alarm systems, extinguishers and more – all with different timelines for inspections and maintenance.
While some systems only need occasional checks and a full inspection once a year, others require more frequent checks, such as fire extinguishers, fire alarms, smoke detectors and emergency lighting.
It’s important to stay up to date on all maintenance inspections, because this is when inspectors catch any issues that would prevent the systems or mechanisms from working how you need them to in the case of an emergency. For example, if there’s an undiagnosed issue with your fire sprinkler system and a fire breaks out, the system may not deploy – resulting in loss of property or even loss of lives. Additionally, many maintenance checks are required by law to keep you in compliance with local fire codes.
At the end of the day, consistent maintenance is simply too important to let slide.
2. Have a plan for your people.
In an emergency it can be hard to think clearly. This is why it’s essential to have emergency plans for various scenarios, and to practice them routinely.
OSHA requires that employers keep an emergency action plan on file, and if you have more than 10 employers, it’s required to be posted in a place where it would be visible in case of an emergency. That way, people know where to look for the plan, even if they forget in the moment what the evacuation routes are. It’s also advised to establish a chain of command for employees, so people know who the main points of contact are, and any employees with special needs get the assistance they may need from dedicated helpers. Every business should also establish a designated meeting spot away from the building, so people know where to go after evacuating.
Finally, one of the most important aspects of any fire and life safety plan is to practice that plan. Drills should be done as often as ordinances dictate, usually at least twice a year. Practice for all emergency scenarios, such as fires, tornadoes, earthquakes or other threats. By practicing often and at various times of the day when employees may be in different parts of the building, people are more likely to know what to do should a true emergency strike.
3. Find a company you trust with your fire and life safety needs.
One of the best resolutions you could make and keep in the new year is finding a fire and life safety company that you trust completely. With the right company, staying in compliance, keeping up with maintenance and understanding how often to practice safety drills will be easy, because they’ll do most of the work of remembering for you.
Your people and property are too valuable to trust with just anyone – that’s why we at CertaSite would love to earn your business through our proven expertise. At CertaSite, our goal is to be the most dependable and simplified life safety solution on the planet, and it’s a job we take very seriously. We can manage all of your systems for you, providing stress-free management of it all so that you can go back to focusing on your business.
Get started today by reaching out to us at CertaSitePro.com.
