10 things to do for safety in the home
1. Fit smoke alarms – the simplest and cheapest safeguard to give early warning of a fire, prevent a major fire developing and give you time to get you and the kids to a safe place. Fire safety in the home contains essential advice on what and where to fit.
2. Ensure you have adequate home contents insurance. It’s cheaper than you think and is even cheaper if you combine with buildings insurance, have an intruder alarm, lockable windows and a good no claims record.
3. Gather all your important documents together including passports and put them in a secure place – a decent quality home safe preferably with fire resistance or a fire safe security cash box is ideal. Be sure to bolt it down to something solid to thwart the opportunist thief.
4. Reduce nuisance phone calls that invariably come in the middle of the evening meal by registering with the Telephone Preference Service at www.tpsonline.org.uk or call 0800 398 893. This only works for UK organisations and takes about a month for these calls to stop. Unfortunately some other unwanted calls are more difficult to stop.
5. Put a No Cold Callers sign on the gate – they used to say No Hawkers in my day but the effect is the same in preventing hard sell salesman and dubious religious disciples arriving at your back door. You can download a No Cold – Callers sign from www.moneysavingexpert.com/nocallers
6. Invest in a fire blanket and ABF or Wet Chemical fire extinguisher for the kitchen where 75% of all home fires start. Make sure everyone in the house knows where they are kept and how to use them.
7. Draw up a Fire Action Plan with the whole family to agree what to do in the event of a fire and who should do it.
8. If you have lockable windows that may provide a means of escape make sure there is a release key in every habitable room. Obviously don’t leave in full view on the windowsill or in the lock.
9. If your family needs to access the house at different times rather than have several duplicate main door keys install a key safe box by the door. It’s far safer than leaving a key “under the mat” or risking being locked out should a key go missing.
10. Of course even with the best planning and good intentions tragedies will still happen so make a Will to save your family the hassle and expense of a protracted Probate. If you have young ones discuss and agree who you would want to be their future Guardians if the worst happens and include in the Will or separate legal statement.
If you have any further suggestions on actions to make home life worry free let us know.
Comments (0)
Farm fire safety regulations
The Regulatory Reform (Fire safety) Order (RRO) has a long reach and virtually all types of business premises are required to comply. Some may be surprised to learn that this fire safety legislation also applies, with few exceptions, to all farm buildings where people work even if the “work” involved is occasional or limited to seasonal activity. Packing sheds, barns, milking parlours, enclosed livestock sheds and chicken houses all fall into the RRO net. Barns converted for holiday lets and farm houses used for providing bed and breakfast are more obvious candidates.
If your farm employs five or more people, you are also required by law to carry out a fire risk assessment of your farm buildings and record the findings or risk a hefty fine or even a jail term, either of which could bring your business to its knees. We offer an extensive range of fire safety training and fire risk assessment guides on CD and DVD together with basic fire training via e-learning to ensure RRO compliance.
Here are 10 essential tips to maximize farm fire safety
- To prevent arson hay and straw should be removed from fields as soon as possible after harvesting. Store well away from other buildings and any livestock housing in manageable and stable stacks spaced at least 10 metres apart.
- Only bale and stack hay when it’s dry to prevent spontaneous combustion.
- Clearly label all fuels and chemicals and store them securely. Petrol, diesel and other fuels should be stored in secure designated areas and entirely separate to fertilisers and pesticides which should be segregated in a locked COSHH cabinet or store and clearly labelled as to the contents.
- Clean and service all tractors and farm machinery regularly and don’t house in barns holding hay, straw or other highly combustible materials where the risk if ignition from the engine and heated exhausts is high.
- Check all firefighting equipment regularly to ensure it will work in an emergency. It is advisable to service fire extinguishers annually to comply with your responsibilities under the RRO.
- If you have Holiday Lets provide a safe designated area for the lighting of open fires and barbecues well away from buildings and potential fire risks and clearly signpost restricted areas for holiday tenants or visitors.
- Display no smoking signs on access doors and gates to all fire risk areas and ensure cigarettes and matches are extinguished carefully.
- Only allow camping and picnicking in monitored areas.
- Ensure any open water supplies suitable for firefighting are regularly checked and maintained.
- Finally to minimize the opportunities for arsonists conduct a simple survey to identify areas where an arsonist may strike. You can ask the local crime prevention officer or your insurance adviser for their assistance.
Comments (0)
Hotel Fire started by Party Coach Revellers
When I think of a coach party I recall the 50′s and 60′s with some nostalgia, the time before the package holiday ushered in a new era for holiday makers when the annual Coach Party trip was the highlight of the year. Mums weighed down with everything imaginable, dads replete in suits and ties and gabbling awestruck kids all set off for the joys of coast or countryside in lumbering retro Coaches replete with faux leather seats and ash trays that you could actually use.
Today in a telling switch the Coach Party has been rebranded the Party Coach which one operator describes as “a disco on wheels” with “everything you need for a fun packed journey.” Everything you need but fire extinguishers apparently, if the experience of the owners of the historic St Magnus Bay Hotel in Hillswick, Shetland is anything to go by.
When a Party Coach of reveller’s descended on the hotel a carelessly discarded cigarette in the entrance, having smouldered undetected for some time eventually developed into a fire, by which time the culprit had long departed on his or her Party Bus.
To add insult to injury two fire extinguishers that would have been more than useful in stemming the flames had been stolen from the hotel. What exactly the revellers intended to do with the fire extinguishers is unclear. The black market in stolen fire extinguishers is hardly the focus of organized crime.
The internal smoke alarms did not operate as the entrance was partly open to the elements. The owners might like to look at our Cigarette Smoke detector for exposed areas that barks out a warning message if it detects smoke. When you think about it the hotel entrance is a high risk area as unlike the old days the only opportunity a smoker has to satisfy their addiction is between leaving the coach and entering the hotel or vice versa.
Co owner of the hotel Ms Manson said: “For every 150 lovely people there is one spoilsport.” In my judgment she has overestimated the ratio by at least a factor of 10. The copious amounts of Alcohol that go hand in hand with the Party Coach ethos will make idiots of them all eventually.
Comments (0)
5 More Common Causes of Fire in the Home
6. Portable Heaters
Portable gas and electric heaters can be lethal if poorly sited or misused. Fan and radiant heaters can quickly overheat if covered or obstructed.
Top Tips
Don’t use portable heaters as clothes dryers. Cotton can ignite at 200 degrees celsius whereas an electric fire element is approaching 1000 degrees celsius. No maths needed here. Remember living flame type gas fires need a fire guard.
7. Your Fireplace
If your house has an open fire you should take extra precautions. Sparks from an unguarded fire can smolder for hours before breaking into flame.
Top Tips
Always invest in a fire guard that is of a size adequate to prevent sparks escaping. Don’t stack logs or other combustibles on the hearth adjacent to the fire. Have the chimney swept and inspected for deterioration at least once a year.
8. Boiler Room
By definition having a carbon fuel heating boiler means you have a fire in the home whenever it is lit so don’t ignore the potential for fire.
Top Tips
Avoid accumulating rubbish or combustibles such as paper in a boiler room. Make sure you have an automatic fire safety cut out device fitted (required in all new installations by law). Don’t pile clothes or other combustibles on top of the boiler. As an added precaution fit a Carbon Monoxide detector and alarm to warn of this deadly gas.
9. Barbeques
A great way to dine but also a significant fire hazard due to irregular burning and variable air flow.
Top Tips
Light the bar-b-q well away from the house, shed, trellising or other combustibles. Use oven gloves and tongs when cooking. Leave the used fire tray overnight before disposing of the ashes.
10. Garden Fires
It is strange but true that many get something of a feel good factor from having a Garden Fire. Getting shut of nature’s clutter and spent glory ready for a new season is satisfying. Trouble is that many part time pyromaniacs apparently take far too little time assessing the risks.
Top Tips
Don’t light fires near buildings. Close any open windows and doors in the house – sparks fly!! Keep the fire small and under control adding material gradually. Have a fire bucket of water or a dry powder fire extinguisher on hand for emergencies.
Top Ten Causes of Home Fires
On average of 350000 fires are dealt with annually by the fire and rescue services. You may be surprised that fires in the home account for only around 15% of the total. Sadly of the 450 deaths arising directly from all fires nearly 80% were in residential houses according to the 2008 statistics. Here’s a list of the most common causes excluding criminal acts such as arson.
Cooking Fires
Cigarette Smoking
Misuse of Matches and Lighters
Faulty Electrical Appliances
Faulty Wiring Circuits
Portable Space Heaters
Chimney Fires
Boiler Rooms
Barbeques
Garden Fires
Comments (0)
Anagrams to make Fire Rife
Take a break from updating your fire risk assessment to exercise your mental agility and solve the following anagrams. The answers are all fire and safety related products and I have added a cryptic suffix to point you in the right direction.
“Heel Sores” sprayed with these?
“Fertile Bank” is maybe covered with this?
“A Scalded Peer” may need one of these to leave The Lords.
“Rip off foes ear” and put in here to stop it burning.
“Thin Sexier Figure” but an annual service is mandatory.
If you are stumped follow the links for the answers. If you can come up with any more Anagrams on the same theme to test our readers let us know.
Comments (0) < Previous Page | Next Page >