No business owner wants to consider the possibility of their business going up in flames. If your business were to be burned to the ground, the financial burden would be staggering. The good news is that there are some steps you can take to lower the chances of a fire happening. Fire safety laws in Ontario put the responsibility on business owners to identify hazards and control risks that could endanger lives or lead to a fire. You need to think about:
- Emergency Exits & Evacuation Routes
- Fire alarm systems & Emergency lighting
- Fire Extinguishers
- Emergency response plans and procedures
- Fire Drills
Protecting your customers
Do you work with members of the public? If you do, you need an escape plan for how you’re going to evacuate people with mobility problems in case there’s a fire. They might need help getting out safely, especially if you’re in a multi-storey building.
Fire drills
Every second counts in an emergency. Fire drills need to be done once a year because your staff need to be comfortable with your fire safety policy. So when the fire alarm goes off, they know exactly what to do and where to go.
Don’t be the reason your business is a fire risk
Following a workplace inspection in 2018, one restaurant was found with blocked emergency exits, fire extinguishers that didn’t work, and faulty fire alarms. The owner would have endangered the lives of his customers and his staff if there had been a fire. The penalty? A $12,250 fine. You don’t want to face that, which is why you have to minimize the fire risks in your business.
