Healthcare facility managers must enormously pay attention to detail in numerous areas, and fire safety is one of the vital domains. Routine safety checks and other strategies can help keep fires under control and stop them entirely. Fortunately, there are many ways to prevent and handle fires. So, check out these fire prevention tips for healthcare facilities.
Monitor Kitchens, Especially Around Meal Times
Storing combustible liquids and oils away from cooking equipment and routinely cleaning grills and their ducts are a few ways of preventing fires. In particular, an action plan helps healthcare employees behave correctly during a fire. This can include rescuing patients in danger, confining fires by blocking doors and hallways, activating fire alarms if you see a fire, and extinguishing minor fires while leaving significant fires for the fire department.
Even if everything is up-to-code and made safely, it doesn’t mean it will stay that way. Your hospital personnel needs to be familiar with safety procedures – from prevention to evacuation and fire emergency response.
Regularly Check Electrical Outlets and Wires
Ensuring that cords are not cracked or split, in bad condition, or being overloaded are several ways of preventing fires. In addition, there are many fire prevention tips that clinical personnel can do to help ensure an electrically safe environment.
- Confirm your hospital engineering department completes regular safety and performance inspections on your electrical outlets and all equipment.
- Avoid performing repairs yourself. A minor knowledge can be dangerous, so call your qualified equipment technician with repair skills.
- Don’t utilize cheater equipment because they eliminate the ground connection and increase the possibility of hazardous shocks.
- Regularly inspect equipment power cords for cracked, frayed, or exposed wiring.
- Don’t continue to replace fuses if they keep burning out.
- Make sure to appropriately insulated shoes around wet areas.
Avoid Smoking Near Oxygen-Dispensing Machines
When there’s more oxygen in the air, fires burn easier, hotter, and quicker than usual. Smoking in healthcare facilities is never ideal, especially nearby of oxygen-dispensing machines. This is why urging your healthcare staff to smoke cigarettes far away from oxygen machines is critical.
Following these fire prevention tips in healthcare facilities requires routine monitoring on the part of the facility management team. Ultimately, regular fire safety equipment inspections can indicate the difference between death and life during a fire emergency.
Commercial and Residential Fire Prevention from Judd Fire Protection
If you want to ensure your home and business are safe throughout the year, trust Judd Fire Protection, LLC. We have over two decades of experience designing, installing, inspecting, and repairing residential and commercial fire protection systems. We serve clients throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and West Virginia. If you are interested in finding out more about our services and protecting your home and business, give us a call at 410-871-3480.