Workplace fire safety and evacuation

Most depot fires start from things that are easy to see and easy to fix. The policy names seven housekeeping rules, and every one of them appears in a real incident report from the last five years.

• Exits and routes stay clear. Nothing is stored in front of a fire exit, in a corridor, or on a stairway, even for ten minutes.
• Fire doors stay closed. A propped fire door lets smoke through the building in under two minutes.
• One plug per socket. Daisy-chained extension leads and overloaded four-ways are the most common electrical cause.
• Flammables in the cabinet. Solvents, aerosols and fuel go back in the yellow cabinet after use. Spills are cleaned at once.
• Nothing on heaters. Cardboard, overalls and paper on wall heaters ignite at normal operating temperature.
• Extinguishers on their brackets. A missing extinguisher is reported the same day.
• Waste out daily. Cardboard and packaging leave the floor at the end of each shift.