As we know that the usages of fire are enormous, it is also true that, if goes out of proportion or control, fire can be a grievous hazard for lives, properties and environment.

Devastating Consequences

Several incidents of fire which happened in the recent past in advanced industrial nations had devastating consequences creating huge destructions. So, how to minimize the risk factors of fire in an industrial set-up or any other work environment?

As fire can happen due to several reasons, fire safety has become an important part of occupational safety and health field. Fire safety is one of the most lucrative professions across the world.

There has been a huge demand from employers to engage competent fire safety professionals to protect their buildings, skilled workers and machinery from the impact of fire.

How do these fire safety managers work and what are the qualifications and experience one may require to manage huge establishments which are fire prone and how do they create safe and healthy working condition?

Fire safety managers, either should have degree or diploma in fire safety management from a reputed institution and are efficient enough to understand the possible causes of fire and take necessary action to prevent future fire accidents.

Some of the reasons for workplace fire accidents are:

• Keeping inflammable items close to hot surfaces.
• Late reaction to small fire which can lead to major inferno.
• Improper handling and storage of explosive dusts, combustible materials, etc.
• Inexperience in handling fire caused by faulty electrical equipment, chemicals, gases, or oil spills.
• Poor building designs, lack of fire preparedness, inappropriate fire exits and inadequate control measures.
• Lack of fire safety knowledge among workers and poor quality of fire protection and firefighting equipment.

Those who are responsible to provide safety against fire in workplaces should be capable of pin-pointing potential fire hazard places. These fire safety officers who are basically occupational Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) professionals, have sufficient knowledge, skills and expertise in analyzing fire hazards, suggest precautionary measures, implement all necessary fire safety best practices and regulations and also educate workers on causes of fire and preventive measures.

Frequent fire audits by competent HSE auditors also helps industries update their fire safety controls and implement changes in the existing practices.

While assessing fire hazards, workplace managers should:

• Identify fire hazards and sources of ignition
• Possible impact on people in case of fire.
• Check who are all going to be affected directly in case of fire
• Evaluate quantum factors and check the adequacy of control measures
• Record the findings for action and also compare with earlier records for possible improvement in risks and hazard control activities.
• Analyze whether workers have sufficient knowledge on fire safety system and are provided with standard fire protection tools, cloths and equipment.