If you own a residential or commercial building, a factory or an industrial or manufacturing company, the law requires that you have a fire protection system installed to either minimise the likelihood of a fire or extinguish fires when they arise. This should be done not only because it is required by law but also because it protects you and other people from burns and property from fire damage.
What Is a Fire Protection System?
This is a system that constitutes fire emergency drills, fire emergency duties and fire prevention and control equipment.
Fire emergency drills
These are the steps to be taken in case of a fire. These include walking fast and in an orderly manner towards the nearest fire exit and assembling at a fire assembly point.
Fire emergency duties and responsibilities
Various employees are trained to deal with fire emergencies and are tasked with making sure everybody gets out of a burning building, scheduling the inspection and maintenance of firefighting equipment, protecting company assets and so on.
Fire prevention and control devices or equipment
These include things like fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, automated fire detection alarms, automated fail-safe devices, fire doors, fire emergency exit doors, emergency lighting, automatic fire suppression systems, fire hydrants, fire hoses, smoke detectors and so on.
What Is an Annual Fire Safety Statement?
You are required by law to have a competent fire safety inspector visit your premises and inspect whether your fire protection system is in good working condition and whether it meets the standards it was installed to meet. After inspection, the competent fire safety inspector creates a report known as the annual fire safety statement that indicates whether your fire protection safety is in good working condition and has met the standards it is supposed to.
You are expected to have multiple copies of this statement. One copy should be portrayed on your premises, another copy should be lodged with fire and rescue and a third copy should be lodged with your local council. Failure to do this can cause you legal problems, which might require the payment of large fines.
What Is a Fire Schedule?
You might come across the phrase 'fire schedule' when applying for an annual fire safety statement. This is simply a form that indicates the various fire safety devices or equipment installed on your premises and their standards.
To learn more about things like annual fire safety statements, contact fire safety companies.
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