Fire Safety Checklist for Bay Area Business Owners

Bay Area business owners, we have a question for you: Is your business is ready for any occurrences of fire?

That’s not to say that a fire will be occurring any time soon. At least, we hope not, or at least that you have adequate fire protection.

But we do know that any fire that goes undetected and becomes an uncontrollable one is not good. Not only will your place of work be destroyed, but you might also face loss of life or injury to you or your workers.

In short, any fire that happens will be a major tragedy for your business. That’s why prevention is the route to go when it comes to fires. And while we recommend Googling “fire inspection in Bay Area” and hiring reputable companies like ourselves in the search results, there’s nothing wrong with doing your own fire safety inspection.

Doing this will help you meet at least the minimum requirements for keeping your property and your people safe.

And if you have no idea where to start, don’t worry – that’s what we’re here for.

Keep on reading for the general things you need to put on your checklist when it comes to keeping your business safe from fires, no matter what kind of business you run.

Here they are, in no particular order.

Do you have fire extinguishers?

When a fire occurs, the first means of stopping one is usually a fire extinguisher. Water might work sometimes, or smothering it with a blanket, but it depends on what kind of fire it is. Fire extinguishers are still the best to use.

So that’s one thing you need to check. Do you have fire extinguishers on your property? Fire safety standards require them to be visible, or at least to have signs indicating where they are indicated. How large your property is will also affect how many fire extinguishers you need.

And it doesn’t stop there. After a certain period, fire extinguishes will need to be inspected to make sure they are working properly and they have the correct amount of chemicals inside them to stop fires. Make sure you coordinate this with fire officials.

Do you have working fire alarm systems?

Or a better question is, do you even have a fire alarm system in the first place? Well, you probably have one, because if not, you’d be penalized by the government.

But anyway, again, just like the fire extinguishers, fire alarm systems need to be inspected regularly to ensure that they are in good working condition. And when we say fire alarm systems, we mean the blaring alarm sounds, fire detectors, smoke detectors, heat detectors, sprinkler systems, and pretty much anything related to the mentioned devices.

And while yes, it’s expensive to get a system installed and to maintain one, think of it as an investment to making sure your business is as protected as can be against fires. After all, if you spend on an expensive fire alarm system and it doesn’t work or there’s a glitch, that’s going to be an even bigger expense in terms of loss of business revenue and so on.

Do you have clear fire exits?

There’s nothing worse than a huge, strong fire occurring on any property with people not knowing where to go because the paths to all the fire exits are blocked. So you also have to check on this.

Look, we understand. Fires aren’t an everyday occurrence, which is why paths to fire exits are taken for granted. There are usually tables there, or a bunch of documents, or whatever. But since you never know when you’d need a fire exit, it’s best to keep them clear of obstruction at all times.

You should also consider if your fire exits are easy to open. Check if they have been rusted shut or the doors are dragging on the floor. Make sure to repair these. And they should not be locked with big chains or bars. Remember that in any emergency, time is of the essence. If people take a long time opening fire exits, a lot of them might not make it.

Do you have emergency lighting?

Suppose a fire occurs in your building and fills rooms with thick smoke. Will people know where to go to get out of the building?

Well, if your exits or fire exits are well-lit and labeled properly, they should have no problem with that. But are they? Make sure that they are!

And what if the power goes out during a fire, will people be able to navigate the different rooms and corridors in your building? If not, install emergency lights, especially in areas where you know people will pass through to escape fires.

How’s the electrical system in your building?

Any faulty electrical system can be a cause of a very big fire. Do you have a lot of exposed wires, for example? Well, for safety purposes, these should be covered.

And if you’re using plenty of extension cords in your line of work, you should know that they aren’t allowed to be used permanently. That’s especially if you use so many adaptors or make too many connections in one extension cord port. Make sure to store these extension cords at the end of the day to prevent any fire-causing hazards.

As for the main electrical panel, make sure there’s no obstruction in front of it and that it’s also covered properly. That way, you know where it is, it’s not easily damaged, and you can easily turn it off in case of any electric-related fires.

Do you have a lot of flammable materials in your facility?

Flammable materials don’t need to be hazardous chemicals in nature. These materials can be much simpler like too much used cooking oil, or a stack of papers, or old wooden materials.

Now whatever you have in your building, the bigger question is, are they stored properly? Or do they happen to be near anything that may be the cause of a fire?

If the answer is yes, either remove them from that area or completely dispose of them, especially if you won’t be using them in the future.

Need Bay Area fire inspection experts?

This checklist contains pretty much everything you need to know about keeping your business safe from fires. We guarantee that if you follow everything on this list, you’ll have done your part in safeguarding the health and safety of not just your place of revenue and your employees, but also of your community.

But again, as we mentioned, there’s nothing wrong also with getting the services of a professional California fire inspection company just to be doubly sure you didn’t miss anything.

And if you’re looking for one, you don’t need to look far. We at Fire Alarm Testing Inc. are at your service! We not only have the latest equipment to check out any fire alarm system you have, we also have well-trained technicians. This allows us to ensure the integrity of every system we test and monitor.