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Christmas trees and alcohol in the
workplace unfortunately means the festive season poses a high risk
for the outbreak of fire.
Extra safety precautions need to be
put in place to guard specifically against this increased threat to
companies, especially at a time when people may let their guard
drop.
As a
result, fire safety specialists at Newflame are on hand to
help make offices, hotels and factories safer places at Christmas
and New Year.
The responsibilities of Directors
and employers are such that the risk assessment process is more
onerous now than ever before. Increased legislation, as part of the
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, is now making further
demands to ensure that the workplace is a safe place to be. |
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Newflame Fire Equipment Limited of Peterborough has
been assisting businesses locally and nationally to protect
themselves from the menace of fire for over thirty years. In
addition to helping save lives and premises from fire, Newflame
thereby helps to protect services, livelihoods and businesses. At
Christmas, Newflame’s fire safety engineers will pre-treat
your Christmas tree with fire retardant, test your tree lights to
British Standards and certify that these precautions have been
undertaken. Fire escape plans, fire exits, smoke alarms and
extinguishers should also be checked and tested, particularly in the
event of larger numbers of people congregating for office parties.
Tests have shown that a small dry
(noble) fir tree takes just 30 seconds to reach temperatures of 760
degrees Celsius, resulting in fire spreading rapidly through the
premises. This risk will be significantly reduced if the tree is
pre-treated, fire extinguishers have been regularly maintained and
the fire escape plan is understood and can be readily actioned. At
Christmas, people should also guard against the fire safety dangers
posed by alcohol. Disturbingly, research undertaken by The National
Safety Council indicates that alcohol was a pre-fire factor in
almost 40% of fire deaths in the last two years.
Commenting, Newflame’s Fire
Safety Advisor Rob Pocklington said, “ At Newflame, our 15-
strong team of staff take fire safety seriously, throughout the year
and especially at Christmas. Our role is to help make workplaces
safer places and we have put together specific fire safety services
to help combat the increased risks of the festive period.”
November 2005 |
