In the food industry, having an unwelcomed fire hazard is very common. Therefore, it is important to have the best emergency procedures in the workplace. This demands that employers need to prepare and revise adequate emergency plans and procedures. And provide these necessary measures for fire fighting and the evacuation to the staff of the workplace. A fire in the workplace should be detected quickly using a fire alarm and a warning given so that people can escape safely.
Early discovery and a warning will increase the time available for escape and enable people to evacuate safely before the fire takes hold and blocks escape routes In other words, to fight these unforeseen situations, all workplaces should have proper arrangements for detecting fire. Hence, it is important to have an automatic fire detection alarm on the premises. And it is necessary to test the alarm on a weekly basis using a Fire alarm test log.
Using this Fire alarm test record, the food operators can make the following checks-
- Check the location of the alarm where it is active
- Inspect all alarm’s sound are properly audible irrespective of the background noise
- All the special alarms are active ( For example- the visual ones for the staff with impaired hearing)
- Automatic fire escape doors must be in working condition
- Auto-dialers/connections to an alarm receiving centres are active (Note. If these are in place, then pre-test procedures must include warning those likely to receive a call, to avoid false alarms)
- If spot any defect then the manager should take corrective action.
However, it is important to ensure the reliability and safe operation of fire-fighting equipment and installed systems such as fire alarms and emergency lighting. Although, this fire alarm test log should be feed and maintained by the responsible worker. Ultimately, having a functional fire alarm system gives a sense of security to the staff.
