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Written by
on 17 May 2012

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Fire Extinguisher Servicing

In any business, it is a legal requirement to ensure that whilst people are inside your building, they are safe from the threat of fire. It is for this reason you need to be sure that amongst other things, your fire extinguishers are serviced and maintained regularly to ensure they will operate properly should the worst happen.

It is a good idea to seek out a local fire extinguisher servicing and maintenance company to take care of your fire extinguishers for you. They will put a maintenance plan in place for you and will likely carry out a free fire risk assessment at the same time to ensure you are compliant and protected as best as possible.

When you hire a company to look after your fire extinguisher servicing for you, be sure to check that the engineers are trained to BAFE, and FIA standards. If the company you use are members of both the British Approvals for Fire Equipment and the Fire Industry Association, then you know they are fully qualified to make sure that your extinguishers meet current standards and that you are in safe hands with real fire risk professionals.

Your fire extinguisher maintenance engineer will work with you to ensure that all your fire safety equipment adhere to the current fire safety regulations and are fully compliant with the latest law, including The British Standard 5306 Part 3, which requires you to service and maintain your fire extinguishers every year. They will advise on what type of extinguisher should be placed in different areas of your building to ensure that you have the correct equipment depending on the type of fire that may occur.

Many fire safety companies will also offer you fire warden training. This is a highly recommended course for nominated fire marshals to attend as it aids in the ability to deal with a fire in the most safe and efficient way.

You might also like to consider whether or not you have all the correct emergency lighting and emergency exit signage in place within your building to aid with a speedy evacuation. Just imagine if you were in a building somewhere for the first time, and the fire alarm went off. You would want to get out of there as quickly and as calmly as possible but are not likely to know the best route to take.

You would certainly thank the owners of the building if they had the correct levels of emergency lighting installed and your quickest exit was clearly highlighted to you. Can you be sure that a visitor to your premises would be so well instructed on how to evacuate in the shortest time possible?

We hope you now have a good understanding of why fire extinguisher servicing and maintenance is so important, as well as the need for adequate emergency lighting and emergency exit signage. We urge you to take action today to ensure that the people in your business are safe and have peace of mind.

About 

A chartered (fellow) safety and risk management practitioner with 20+ years of experience. David provides a healthy dose of how-to articles, advice and guidance to make compliance easier for construction professionals, Architects and the built environment. Get social with David on Twitter and Linkedin.

A chartered (fellow) safety and risk management practitioner with 20+ years of experience. David provides a healthy dose of how-to articles, advice and guidance to make compliance easier for construction professionals, Architects and the built environment. Get social with David on Twitter and Linkedin.

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