November 24, 2021

Christmas Fire Protection Tips From Total Fire Solutions

Many businesses close down for a period of time over the Christmas and New Year period. Everyone takes a well-deserved break so they can celebrate the festive season with their family and friends. With your commercial premises unoccupied during this time and being the peak of summer, you’ll want to make sure it’s protected; especially against the possibility of a fire.

Follow these handy tips to help keep your business premises protected from fire and you can enjoy the festive season with complete peace of mind.

Have Your Premises Inspected Prior To the Christmas Break

This is something you will want to do at least two weeks to a month before your business shuts down over Christmas and New Year’s. Call a fire protection services company and request a fire safety audit. Your fire safety inspector will scrutinise your commercial premises to ensure everything is in order and up to maximum fire safety standards.

Things they will look for include:

Having enough fire extinguishers

Fire sprinklers systems are installed and in good working order

Hoses and fire blankets are on the premises

Check that fire and smoke alarms are installed and working properly

Emergency lighting is in place and operating normally

And more…

If things are not up to standard, your fire protection services representative will advise you on any changes that need to be implemented. That’s why it’s important to organise an inspection ahead of time, so you can get things organised before the Christmas break begins.

Have Your Commercial Premises Monitored While You’re Away

You might consider hiring a security company to keep an eye on things while your business is closed for the holidays. A security guard can check on the premises periodically, or you could even hire a guard to monitor the place full time until you return to work.

If you have security cameras installed that you can access via the internet, you’ll personally be able to check-in, view the cameras and make sure everything is fine.

Clear Away All Rubbish and Debris Before Going On Break

One way to help prevent fire from breaking out is to ensure there’s no fuel of any kind lying about. One of the biggest culprits in a commercial operation is rubbish and debris. Have all of your employees do a thorough cleanup during the final days before the Christmas break.

If you have chemicals, petrol or other flammable substances onsite, make sure they are stored away safely with all lids completely sealed.

Unplug Machinery and Equipment

While you likely won’t be switching off power to the entire building, be sure to switch off or unplug anything that doesn’t need to be plugged in. This reduces the chances of any sort of electrical fault occurring while the business is unattended. Just leave the bare minimum running, such as security cameras, lights and any type of refrigeration.

It’s also a wise idea to call in your electrician for a routine inspection before the holidays. An electrician will be able to go around and check that everything is safe regarding machinery, appliances, electrical outlets and wiring.

Also note that if you have a Christmas tree with fairy lights in the building, or you have strung fairy lights inside or outside the premises, be sure to turn these off before vacating. Fairy lights have been notorious over the years for electrical faults and starting fires, so never leave them unattended.

Store Important Business Data Off-Site

It’s a good idea at any time of the year to store backups of vital business data off-site. If the only copies you have are stored on the premises and a fire destroys that data, it will be lost forever.

Either make backups on portable hard drives or store backups of your data on a secure cloud server before breaking for the holidays.

While insurance can replace physical items such as machinery and buildings, it can’t replace data and important information.