General Fire Safety Hazards You Should Know

What are the hazards?

Many substances found around us can cause the starting of the fire. These range from the obvious, eg flammable chemicals, clothing, paper, to the less obvious – grease, packaging materials, dust from wood and room decorations.

It is important to be aware of the risks and to control or get rid of them to prevent accidents.

You should be able to spot fire hazards, which are any situation that can give rise to a fire.

Do you see anything familiar in the picture above?

These are the common mistakes made by households.

Smoking materials are left near flammable items that can lead to easy starting of the fire. Most commonly seen is the use of extension cords with large appliances.

For your own safety, do not overload electrical outlets – this is especially important for older building housing that might not have the best electrical systems.

Make it as a routine to unplug hair dryers, curling irons, and hair-straighteners when they are not in use and never leave these items unattended in your room.

Nowadays, it has become a trend to cover the lights with curtains or tapestries that would make the lights go dimmer.

But little did you know the heat from the lights to the curtain can be the cause of the fire. Do not cover the lights with any clothes.

Next, do not light the candles near flammable decorations. Candles can be a beautiful decoration in a room but it need to be handle with extra care and supervision. Do not leave burning candles unattended.

Make sure to place candles in sturdy candleholders. Do not keep anything flammable around a burning candle and extinguish the candles after using

For cooking fire safety tips, cook only in designated areas provided. Bear in mind only to cook when you are alert, not sleepy or drowsy. Keep cooking areas clean and free from anything that is flammable and can burn.

Always keep an eye on what you are cooking. If a fire starts in the microwave oven, keep the doors shut and immediately unplug the unit.

Prepare a designated area for ironing your clothes. Do not iron your clothes on flammable surfaces.

These are the basic fire safety hazards that you must know.

• For your information, fires need three things to start; a source of ignition (heat), a source of fuel (something that burns) and oxygen:
• Sources of ignition are heaters, lighting, naked flames, electrical equipment, smokers’ materials (cigarettes, matches, etc), and anything else that can get very hot or cause sparks.
• Sources of fuel for example wood, paper, plastic, rubber or foam, loose packaging materials, waste rubbish and furniture.
• Sources of oxygen include the air around us.

Most flames are preventable. Those in charge of work environments and different buildings or structures to which the public can access can avoid them by taking responsibility for and adopting the right behaviors and procedures.

Once you have recognized the risks, you should consider what actions are needed to reduce or eliminate the risk of people or property being harmed and damaged.

This will include ways to prevent these incidents from happening in the first place, as well as precautions that will protect people from harm if there is any fire event happening.

One way to reduce fire risk is to install a smoke alarm. Smoke alarms are a key part of a home fire escape plan providing early warning reducing your risk of dying in a fire.

For further information about fire safety, please do not hesitate to call us at 03 – 78314791. At AITO Firework, we provide a consultancy services that will answer all your questions.