Fire accidents kill nearly 10,000 Indians every year. Rapid urbanization has led to the sprawling of homes and offices in every nook and cranny of big Indian cities. India’s fire safety regulations have hardly managed to keep up the pace.
How To Decide On The Number Of Fire Extinguishers to buy?
While experts draft newer fire safety policies, one of the big logistical questions is to decide on the number of fire extinguishers to buy for any business or home seeking to keep people safe from fire accidents. This article will help to understand the number of fire extinguishers necessary to ensure safety.
The number of fire extinguishers needed in a particular workplace or residence will rely on several factors. Here’s how one can decide on the number of fire extinguishers to buy to ensure fire safety:
Light fire hazard
Buildings that are not particularly prone to fire accidents do not house highly combustible substances. Also, the space is not particularly cramped. In such places, one fire extinguisher at every exit and one in the kitchen should serve the purpose of fire safety.
Examples of such buildings include classrooms, offices, churches and hotels.
Ordinary fire hazard:
One needs to be ready to battle ordinary fire hazards in places where there are regular flammable articles that can start a fire.
Such spaces include post offices, dry cleaners and clothing stores. However, one thing a business must bear in mind while installing fire extinguishers is that it shouldn’t take a person to travel more than 75 feet to reach the nearest fire extinguisher.
Major fire hazard:
This applies to workplaces and residences that deal in heavily flammable substances. Such buildings may be surrounded by lint or dust or could be factories producing plastic or modular building assembly plants.
Such workstations must ensure that there is one fire extinguisher located every 30 to 50 feet.
Commercial kitchens:
Commercial kitchens are ripe for fire accidents. They deal in highly flammable substances which can cause massive fires.
For commercial kitchens, it is best to install a permanent fire suppression system. Additionally, portable fire extinguishers should be placed every 30 feet.
While deciding on the number of fire extinguishers to be installed, one must also account for the following factors:
Fire extinguishers must be located in easy-to-access areas.
The route to fire safety equipment should not be blocked by office supplies or storage. Fire accidents are rare but can kill people and shut down whole businesses. One needs to take care that their fire safety equipment is accessible.
The right kind of fire extinguisher.
Fire extinguishers are of several kinds depending on the kind of fire and the source of ignition. Therefore, one needs to carefully consider the kind of fire their property is susceptible to and choose the right kind of fire extinguisher.
Fire extinguishers are not like insurance policies.
One cannot just install a fire extinguisher and rest easy against fire accidents. It is important to be consistently vigilant and ensure that the installed fire extinguishers have no defects and are in perfect working condition.
Fire extinguisher management is a technical task best left to experts.
A business, especially one that is susceptible to major fire accidents, should consider hiring a licensed fire protection service that can manage a business’s fire safety.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to fire safety. A business or a residence needs to make an informed choice to decide on the fire safety equipment they need. In order to find the right kind of fire safety equipment for your business or home, head over to Fire Extinguisher section on L&T-SuFin.