Editor’s Note: In this guest post, Emily Bartels reminds us of the need to prevent fires in healthcare facilities. She discusses fire prevention tips to improve patient safety.
By Emily Bartels
Fires happen in healthcare facilities at times, but, you can always prevent them from happening. Here, you’ll learn of the top fire prevention tips for the health and safety of patients in a facility, and what you can do to help rectify any dangers.
Prohibit Smoking
This one is usually already in place in healthcare facilities, but you should always prohibit smoking, especially amongst patients. If you do want to create a designated area to smoke, use metal ashtrays since they are tip-resistant and won’t’ catch on fire. You should make sure that the smoking area is nowhere near oxygen supplies. You shouldn’t let people smoke inside the areas since it’s the leading cause of fires in residential places.
Be Cautious where Fires can Happen
The next step is to take extra precautions in places where fires tend to happen. These include kitchens, places you can dine in, laundry facilities, and any other places where fires are likely to happen. You should make sure that the washer is cleaned and the lint traps are cleaned out as well, since if left unattended that can put a place at risk. You should make sure grease and other materials aren’t on kitchen stuff, and make sure to secure any flammable substances.
Make Sure Alarms and Extinguishers are Working
Do make sure that you place and maintain the fire alarms in an appropriate place, and make sure that carbon monoxide and smoke alarms are tested frequently and serviced so that they do their job. With this too, you should also make sure all fire suppression systems, such as extinguishers, are functional, and you should always have someone in the facility that knows how to run these in the event of a fire. Having these n place will let others know if something is wrong in the event of a fire, and ensure that everyone is evacuated safely.
Be Careful with Any Tools and Equipment
Tools and equipment in the workplace are often overlooked, but electrical fires do happen. You should make sure any plugs and outlets are in a good state, and that if there is any damage or frayed areas, you toss these or get them serviced immediately. You should make sure that you don’t overload the outlet areas with extension cords. So, if you have a couple of extension cords, always make sure that you don’t put too many plugs on them. If you do, it could end up sparking and catching on firm and many times, it’s how the fuses get blown in the facility too, which could spell curtains for you. Finally, you should replace any tools, appliances, or equipment that you notice that’s making any smarks, is smoking, or smells funny
These are all key points of a fire safety training for patients in healthcare facilities, and you should make sure that, if they’re not in place, you do put them in immediately for the safety of everyone in the place.
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Emily Bartels loves to write on issues related to health and workplace. She has been in this industry for more than 5 years years and specialises in writing educative content on health and workplace. She loves to read trending news to keep her updated!