Workplace Fire Safety

Quick! Answer the following questions:

In case of an emergency, do you know where the fire exits are located in your workplace?

• Can you identify the floor wardens on your office floor?

• Do you know how to use a fire extinguisher?

• If a fire breaks out, do you know when to fight the fire, including the right extinguishing medium, and when to evacuate?

• Do you participate in regular office fire drill trainings?

If you answered “no” to most of these questions, chances are your company should rethink the fire safety procedures in your workplace. Often, we participate in fire (or earthquake) drills with our minds preoccupied by deadlines and upcoming meetings so that we dismiss these exercises as unimportant. But if a fire breaks out, do we truly know what to do in that situation? We spend a significant part of our lives at work (or in kindergarten, school, university and other institutions). According to an article published by Gettysburg College, an average office worker spends up to 90,000 hours at work, which is almost equivalent to more than 10 years!

In this week’s episode of Burning Matters, we discuss workplace fire safety. It is important to dedicate a blog that considers a topic that may be inconsequential to some but can have a massive impact to everyone, given that we spend a significant portion of our day at work.