The 101 on fire extinguishers
Fire extinguishers are an incredibly important piece of equipment, but do you and your team know how to use them safely and effectively?
Fire extinguishers are often the first suppression equipment used to attempt to stop a fire in its early stages. They can make or break a small incident or full blown emergency.
Here’s a few tips and tricks our resident firefighters want you to know about extinguishers:
Tip #1 - They’re not all the same
Extinguishers generally contain one of a number firefighting agents, for example:
Water
Foam
Dry Chemical Powder
Carbon Dioxide
Wet Chemical
In the moment it’s important to choose the right firefighting agent – a water extinguisher on an electrical fire will be ineffective and create a new hazard.
Tip # 2 - Fires grow more quickly than you’d think
Australia’s catastrophic bushfires in summer 2019 really brought home to many people just how quickly fire can move. This is not only true in a rural and bushfire setting, but also wherever fuel load exists - like a factory full of cardboard boxes or an office space with a lot of furniture. Seconds count, and the difference can result in a fire developing to an unsafe and uncontrollable size that is no longer able to be safely contained with an extinguisher.
Tip #3 - Use the P.A.S.S. method to pass the grade in extinguisher usage
Once you have the right extinguisher to hand, you must follow the basic steps of fire extinguisher operation. Firstly, stand at a safe distance and use the maximum effective range for your equipment, then:
P – Pull the pin;
A – Aim at the base of the fire;
S – Squeeze the trigger; and
S – Sweep across the base of the fire.
Stay calm and call 000. Document any incidents shortly after they occur.
Training your team on these simple steps is a great way of proactively managing fire risk – if your team can operate a fire extinguisher it can be noted in your facility emergency plan and added to your risk management tool kit.
When every second counts, know how to act to protect what you value. Contact Safety 101 today to discuss options and get your team trained up so they can effectively respond to a small emergency in your facility: admin@safety-101.com