subject: Tips On How To Improve Fire Safety In The Home [print this page] The home is the place where we all spend most of our time. This is also the place in which we live with our loved ones. Thus, our living environment should not just be comfortable and aesthetically pleasant but must also ensure that various safety accidents can be prevented at any time. For those who are living in apartment buildings or high-rise flats, the need to stress safety is especially important. In the UK, some form of fire safety training is required for building occupants. This training provides useful information and teaches building occupants some essential skills related to prevention and safety.
Apart from this, there should also be a proper set of equipment and safety signs installed throughout the building in order to help the occupants prevent safety accidents from occurring, or in such a case that the fire has become unmanageable, find the proper route to a nearby fire exit. Nevertheless, you should not just depend on equipment and signs provided by the building supervisors, you should also take the necessary steps to further improve safety in the home. Here are some useful tips we have rounded up.
Conduct a proper risk assessment procedure
The first and most important thing that you can do to prevent safety accidents from occurring in your home is to undertake a quick risk assessment. Since this is meant for the home, you do not necessarily have to hire a professional if you are short on budget. However, if you really want to ensure safety, then you may enlist the help of a professional to do this. This assessment, when conducted properly, will identify problem areas in your home that could lead to potential accidents. Faulty wiring, use of flammable materials near combustible liquids, materials that have not been treated, and leaking gas pipes are some of the things that can be identified through proper assessment.
Arm yourself with proper knowledge regarding fire safety
Prevention is always better than cure. If you really wish to have a safe home, then arm yourself with the right knowledge and skills to do this. Your local community may provide free basic safety training to those who are interested to enrol. There are also companies that provide free lessons online. Through this fire safety training, you will be able to know about things like the fire triangle, the different classes, the different kinds of extinguishers you need in your home and their various uses, as well as other useful information you might not have learned yourself.
Draw up a fire safety plan
Now that you have strengthened your knowledge of home safety, it is time to put this into action by drawing up a safety plan for your home. Since each home has a different organizational layout, you can draw up a diagram or map; locate high-risk areas that need extinguishers, smoke alarms, etc.; and then devise an effective and easy to use escape route from your flat to the nearest fire escape. As part of your safety plan, you may also include the task of monitoring your equipment for damages and dead batteries. This is also important because equipment that have dead batteries or have been damaged will prove to be useless just when you need them the most.
