Many small business owners are unaware of their responsibilities when it comes to supplying fire fighting equipment and staff safety training a report from Norwich Union Risk Service claims.
Research showed that under half of the bosses surveyed had any knowledge of the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order (RRFSO) legislation.
Martin Hartley, property class specialist for NURS, said: “Protecting the lives of staff as well as business property is paramount. Our research, along with anecdotal evidence, suggests that businesses may not be fully aware of their responsibilities.”
Hartley says that adequate staff training is required with everyone knowing where fire extinguishers are placed and how to select the correct type. This is further complicated by the current standards that mean most fire extinguishers are red and have a small colour coded area to identify each one.
“For example, water filled extinguishers (red coded area) can be used on paper, wood, and textile fires; powder extinguishers (blue coded area) on wood, paper, textiles, electrical hazards; CO2 extinguishers (black coded area) on electrical hazards.”
Clearly having the equipment in itself is not enough and Hartley calls on bosses to ensure staff are well trained to determine which extinguisher to use and when, and more importantly how and when it is safe to do so.
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