Fire Safety And The Home If you think about it, it makes sense for every home to have its own, tailor-made fire safety policy. After all, every hotel has one and so does every workshop and public building, so why should your family and home not be on an even footing with them? But how many families have one. I personally do not know of any. It is weird that we appear to undervalue our nearest and dearest so much. So where should you go to find a fundamental fire safety plan? There are lots of places. You should be au fe with the fire safety plan at your workshop for a kick off. Otherwise, you could go to you library or any public office and read theirs. You will probably have to alter any public fire safety policy you read to home life, unless you intend handing out RFID tags or having a doorman to clock everybody in and out. This is a tricky point. How do you know who is in and who is out in a large house? The Fire Department will also be able to give you fire safety pointers. In some countries, the fire department is glad to visit private homes free of charge to offer suggestions on how best to safeguard one's family. Smoke Detectors: There ought to be a smoke detector outside the kitchen (inside if nobody ever burns the toast) and on each stairs landing. They ought to be hardwired together, so that if one goes off they all go off and they could be linked to the house main burglar alarm siren too. They ought to also be wired into the house mains electricity system with individual battery back ups. Emergency Lighting: there ought to be emergency lights pointing towards the closest ground floor exit. These should be mains and battery powered as well. Consider putting luminous strips on every (top) tread of the stairs, because you do not want people falling down the stairs in their dash to escape in the dark. Fire Extinguishers: there ought to be a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and garage and on each landing as well. Think about putting a small one in each bedroom. Personal Fire Safety Kit: it is a wise precaution to put some type of kit in every bedroom. This kit could contain: a fire blanket, safety goggles and a hand bell. A fireresistant blanket against the heat; goggles so you can see in the smoke and a bell to warn the remainder of the house if the alarms do not work or to call for help if you get trapped. Intumescent Strips: you could automatically seal off areas most likely to catch fire with intumescent strips. You cut a groove in an hour-fire check door with a router all around the edge and insert a strip. At a predefined temperature, the strip expands very quickly, sealing the door shut and localizing any fire. These doors must be shut first (door closers) of course. Make sure that everybody knows where to congregate and phone missing family members. Hang your safety policy in each toilet so that even guests have the opportunity to read it and you will have the safest home on the block.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a number of subjects, but is now involved with RX Safety Glasses. If you want to know more, please visit our site at Safety Glasses Bifocal