Fire prevention plan elements

Your company probably already has an adequate EAP/FPP, but the following elements may provide ideas for additional safety features not included in your basic plan. It is important to list in detail the procedures to be taken by employees who will remain behind to care for essential plant operations until their evacuation becomes absolutely necessary. Essential plant operations may include:

• Monitoring plant power supplies, water supplies, and other essential services which cannot be shut down for every emergency alarm.
• Chemical or manufacturing processes which must be shut down in stages or steps where certain employees must be present to assure that safe shut down procedures are completed.

Include floor plans or workplace maps which clearly show the emergency escape routes. Color coding will aid employees in determining their route assignments. Develop and explain in detail what rescue and medical first aid duties are to be performed and by whom. Train all employees what actions they are to take in emergency situations that may occur in the workplace.

Emergency evacuation

At the time of a fire emergency, employees should know what type of evacuation is necessary and what their role is in carrying out the plan.

• Total and immediate evacuation.
• Partial evacuation of nonessential employees with a delayed evacuation of others.
• Only those employees in the immediate area of the fire may be expected to evacuate or move to a safe area, such as when a local application fire suppression system discharge employee alarm is sounded.

Safe areas

Designated refuge or safe areas for evacuation should be determined and identified in the plan. In a building divided into fire zones by fire walls, the refuge area may still be within the same building but in a different zone from where the emergency occurs.

Exterior refuge or safe areas may include parking lots, open fields, or streets which are located away from the site of the emergency and which provide sufficient space to accommodate the employees. Employees should be instructed to move away from the exit discharge doors of the building, and to avoid congregating close to the building where they may hamper emergency operations.

Evacuation wardens

Plan for an adequate number of employees to be available at all times during working hours to act as evacuation wardens to guide employees from the danger location to the safe areas. Generally, one warden for each twenty employees in the workplace should be able to provide adequate guidance and instruction at the time of a fire emergency.

The employees selected or who volunteer to serve as wardens should be trained in the complete workplace layout and the various alternative escape routes from the workplace. All wardens and fellow employees need to know about handicapped employees who may need extra assistance, such as using the buddy system, and of hazardous areas to be avoided during emergencies.

Before leaving, wardens should check rooms and other enclosed spaces in the workplace for employees who may be trapped or otherwise unable to evacuate the area. After the desired degree of evacuation is completed, the wardens should be able to account for or otherwise verify that all employees are in the safe areas.

Coordinating evacuation plans

In buildings with several places of employment, coordinate your plans with the other employers in the building. A building-wide or standardized plan for the whole building is acceptable, provided that all employers inform their employees of their duties and responsibilities under the plan.

The standardized plan need not be kept by each employer in the multi-employer building, provided there is an accessible location within the building where the plan can be reviewed by all employees. When multi-employer building-wide plans are not feasible, coordinate your plan with the other employers in the building to assure that conflicts and confusion are avoided during times of emergencies. In multi-story buildings where more than one employer is on a single floor, it is essential that employers coordinate their plans with each other to avoid conflicts and confusion.

Housekeeping safety factors

Proper housekeeping is essential to control the of accumulation of flammable and combustible waste materials which can lead to a fast developing fire, rapid spread of toxic smoke, or an explosion. Employees need to be aware of the hazardous properties of materials in their workplaces and the degree of hazard each poses.

Certainly oil soaked rags have to be treated differently than general paper trash in office areas. However, large accumulations of waste paper or corrugated boxes can pose a significant fire hazard. Accumulations of materials which can cause large fires or generate dense smoke that are easily ignited or may start from spontaneous combustion must be controlled. Such combustible materials may be easily ignited by matches, welder’s sparks, cigarettes and similar low level energy ignition sources.

Equipment maintenance

Workplaces often contain equipment to control heat sources or to detect fuel leaks, such as temperature limit switches on deep-fat food fryers found in restaurants. There may be similar switches for high temperature dip tanks, or flame failure and flashback arrester devices on furnaces and similar heat producing equipment. If these devices are not properly maintained or if they become inoperative, a definite fire hazard exists.

Employees and supervisors should be aware of the specific type of control devices on equipment involved with combustible materials in the workplace and should make sure, through periodic inspection or testing, that these controls are operable. Manufacturers’ recommendations should be followed to assure proper maintenance procedures.