FIRE extinguishers are an essential part of your business because they will make the difference between life and death in a fire.
An easily accessible fire extinguisher can allow rapid response to minimize the harmful effects of a fire on the health of employees and thus limit material losses and production stoppages of affected businesses.
This is why carrying out a rigorous control of them is essential. To ensure safety in the event of a fire, it is recommended to carry out an annual inspection of fire extinguishers and to train employees in carrying out risk analysis so that they can take ownership of the steps and apply them to the day-to-day.
Annual inspection of fire extinguishers
First of all, it is necessary to carry out an annual inspection and mandatory to carry out a monthly check of fire extinguishers. In addition to a visual inspection at least once a year, it is important to turn fire extinguishers upside down to decompress the powder they contain.
Thus, the contracted company verifies that no extinguisher is damaged from the outside, thus being able to determine if a hydrostatic test is necessary.
This test consists of verifying the solidity as well as the hermetic properties of tubes and pipes under internal water pressure.
Training of workers
Then, it is your duty to inform the workers of the company so that everyone performs summary analyses throughout the year.
Here is a list of steps to pass on to employees:
- Keep a register including each inspection carried out as well as the list of items checked or to be checked;
- Make sure at all times that access to the fire extinguishers is not obstructed and that they are easy to access;
- Make sure the fire extinguisher is in good condition. More specifically, that all the parts useful for the proper functioning of the extinguisher are in place and that the container is not damaged;
- Allow yourself to shake the extinguisher to make sure the powder inside does not harden.
To ensure the proper functioning of the extinguishers, it is necessary to carry out preventive maintenance every 6 years for powder extinguishers and 5 years for water extinguishers, type K, CO2.
Remember that a fire extinguisher should normally be changed after use, but can also be recharged by a professional who will do the full inspection beforehand.
Focusing on an inspection means ensuring the quality of the supervision of your safety within the company. To learn more about the procedures to put in place to prevent fires, consult our page to prevent fires, we must recognise the risks.
Brady Protection Incendie SA is an established company based in Johannesburg, South Africa, committed to the preservation of life and property through installations, maintenance, upgrades and service of fire detection & fire suppression systems.
