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10 Work Place Safety Essentials When Starting a Business.

You may think that business start-up’s in the current economic climate would be a rare occurrence yet government statistics still report “Business Births” as they term it at approaching 200,000 a year. Starting a business is stressful enough with so much red tape and regulations to plough through. Work place safety including fire safety is just one aspect but at least we can help with a rundown of 10 essential provisions to put budding entrepreneurs on the right side of the law.

• Display a Health and Safety Law poster prominently in the premises either on reception or in a communal staff area.
• Display Fire Signs detailing what to do in the event of fire, the designated escape routes and fire assembly points.
• Display a No Smoking Sign at each public entrance to the premises
• Conduct a fire risk assessment and utilise the outcome to determine any extra fire safety provisions such as Fire Extinguishers. If you need help purchase one of our self help manuals or step by step fire risk assessment tools. It’s far less expensive that employing a consultant.
• Purchase a Fire Log Book to record fire safety training, fire equipment maintenance records, fire drills and fire action plans. This is mandatory if you employ 5 or more people.
• Accidents can happen in any business so a First Aid Kit is a good safeguard.
• If the business extends over several rooms install a Rotary Hand Bell in a usually occupied room that can be heard throughout the building.
• In unoccupied rooms such as storage, server or computer rooms that present a fire risk install Smoke Detectors. For large premises extending to many rooms or more than one floor interlinked wired smoke detectors and alarms are preferred.
• If in the course of your business activity you store and use quantities of hazardous substances, described generally as toxic, corrosive or flammable you should store these in a suitable Flammable Storage Cabinet compliant with the COSHH or DSEAR regulations.
• Having done all this you should then bring in your insurers and ensure you have third party liability insurance appropriate to your business. Having a clear fire and safety policy in place should help with the premiums.

You can find more information in our Advice section on Fire Safety Management and if you have any further tips to help start up businesses let us know.

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Safety Tips for Bonfire Night

Fawkes Night on November 5th is an ancient tradition originally intended as a celebration of the failure of Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators to blow up Parliament and King James I in particular. Although the history is largely forgotten, taking the opportunity to gather the family round a blazing fire and watch a fire work display is still popular. Fire Safety is paramount and many accidents can be avoided by good preparation and some common sense. Here are some tips to ensure an enjoyable and safe bonfire night.

• First of all consider attending an organised event rather than risking your safety by having a garden bonfire.
• If you do have a home bonfire warn your neighbour’s beforehand as a courtesy or better still invite them to the party, so they are less likely to complain.
• It’s a good idea to wear protective clothing if you are in charge of the fire. Flame retardant Overalls, sturdy boots and flame resistant leather rigger gloves are inexpensive safeguards and are useful the year round.
• Only burn dry material as damp fuel generates more smoke and never burn plastics or car tyres as they can produce highly toxic gases.
• Build your bonfire away from sheds, timber fences, trees and any overhanging cables or telephone wires
• Use firelighters to get the fire going. Petrol and paraffin may flare up and can get out of control quickly
• Use a fire bucket filled with sand to light your fireworks and launch rockets.  At the end of the night the sand can be used to smother the fire.
• Have a water fire extinguisher handy or a connected garden hose with a spray attachment nearby in case of emergencies
• Set up a cordon to keep children well away from the bonfire
• Don’t throw any fireworks into the fire even if you believe they are spent
• Sparklers are fun but can be dangerous to small children. Always supervise them and provide a bucket of water to dunk the spent sparklers after use.

Laws governing fireworks
You should also be aware that there are Laws governing the use of fireworks. Breaking these laws can result in fines of up to a £5000 and 3 month imprisonment.
For Bonfire night fireworks can only be sold to adults over 18 years of age and only between the 15th October and the 10th November.
It is an offence to set off fireworks in the street or public places without a licence. If caught the police can give you an on-the-spot fine of £80
Even on Bonfire night and the nights surrounding this date fireworks must not be set off after midnight.

Finally don’t be tempted to buy cheap fireworks from “out of the back of a van” dealers and temporary unlicenced shops. Look for fireworks marked BS 7114 or a “CE” mark that shows the fireworks meet British or European safety standards.

Have a safe bonfire night. If you have any further tips or can recommend good organised events let our readers know.

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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.

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Car Fire Extinguishers stand test of time

The safety benefits for having a car extinguisher were recognised 100 years ago when Pyrene introduced the first CTC (Carbon Tetrachloride) canister in 1912. The effectiveness of CTC in suppressing flammable liquid and electrical fires meant they were often fitted as standard to many vintage vehicles and are still sought after today by vintage car enthusiasts and vehicle restorers albeit now only strictly for show.

When you stop to think your car contains a host of materials, including flammable liquids like petrol and oil, solid combustibles such as hose lines, plastics and upholstery that provide a ready source of fuel for a fire. A car also has many potential sources of heat capable of igniting these materials including electrical equipment and evermore complex wiring with the potential to short circuit, hot exhaust systems, air bag detonators and batteries. Even the heat of the engine is sufficient to ignite fumes from leaking fuel lines.

Although most car fires originate in the engine compartment the passenger compartment is not immune. My daughter once had a close encounter with disaster when she left an empty coke bottle in the back seat on a clear sunny day. The bottle acted like a prism and the concentrated sunlight burnt a neat track in the roof lining of the cab. She was fortunate the concentrated rays were not directed at the newspaper and magazines adjacent the bottle.

There are many other practical safety reasons to carry a car fire extinguisher particularly if you are holidaying in a caravan, out for a picnic or camping when statistically the risks of accidental fires are at their greatest. Having a fire extinguisher to hand may prevent a minor fire from getting out of control.

The lethal gases produced as a consequence of using the Pyrene CTC extinguishers sealed their demise a long time ago and they were quickly superseded by modern versatile dry powder and foam fire extinguishers both of which are effective on flammable liquids and solid combustibles. The dry powder extinguishers have added advantages as they can be used safely on fires involving live electricity and also flammable gases like butane.

Extinguishers are available in convenient sizes to fit unobtrusively in your car. The compact 600g disposable aerosol extinguisher is small enough to fit in a glove compartment whilst the 1kg dry powder fire extinguisher with refillable canister can be mounted in a door tray, on a cabin side strut or out of sight in the car boot.

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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.