Most business owners understand the importance of having the correct types and numbers of fire extinguishers in their workplace as well having this equipment checked and serviced regularly. But are you convinced that, should a fire occur, that your employees are trained in managing this emergency situation?
In the case of a major fire incident, the advice is to evacuate the building immediately and call the emergency services. However, if it’s a small fire which can be easily isolated, then fire safety equipment such as extinguishers should be in place and easily accessible for employees to use to contain the fire.
What is vitally important should this scenario occur, is that employees know which extinguisher to use and how to use it correctly.
When specialist companies carry out fire safety training, they always recommend the PASS method as an easy way of remembering what to do. In this instance, PASS stands for:
Pull: the first thing you need to do is to pull the safety pin or tag to operate the extinguisher.
Aim: you should always aim the extinguisher at the base of the fire which is the source of the flames.
Squeeze: the trigger needs to be squeezed slowly and steadily until the extinguisher starts to work.
Sweep: you will then need to sweep the extinguisher back and forth over the base of the flames until the fire has been extinguished.
Certain types of extinguishers work on different types of fires and it’s important to have the right extinguisher in place or it won’t put the fire out. What’s more, if you use the wrong extinguisher, you could cause the fire to spread rather than put it out.
The main classes of fire extinguishers which are commonly used in the workplace are as follows:
Class A fires for combustible materials caused by flammable solids, such as wood, paper, and textiles
Class B fires for flammable liquids such as petrol, paint or spirits
Class C fires for flammable gases ike propane and butane
Class D fires for flammable metals including chemicals such as magnesium, lithium or potassium
Electrical fires for electrical equipment like computers and photocopiers.
Class F fires for cooking oils: such as olive oil or butter. Typically a chip-pan fire
The table below gives you a comprehensive overview of which types of extinguisher you need for different fires:
In addition to the above table, we thought it would be helpful to share with you some important information about how the different extinguishers that we sell to businesses across the UK work.
At Hartson Fire, we have been providing fire extinguishers to a huge number of businesses for more than 20 years. We stock a huge range of different types which are available to order by calling the number below or via our website here https://hartsonfire.co.uk/collections/fire-extinguishers:
