what is the point of fire extinguishers in the work place?
.If an employee discovers a fire in the workplace they should raise the alarm, once the alarm is raised the building should be evacuated. If everyone has to leave the building, who is to use the extinguishers?
If I provide training on the use of extinguishers, am I to say that everyone except the person nearest the fire (and therefore in the greatest danger) should leave the building.
I can see that it would be logical to tackle a small fire with an extinguisher, but that would be contrary to fire drill procedure and place an employee at risk.
This is a real conundrum
“use a fire extinguisher to extinguish a small fire if it is safe to do so.”
Am I to ask employees to make a risk assessment as to whether it is “safe”.Do they have the knowlede or experience to make that judgement under stress?
I see what you are trying to say…
But there could be a situation where an employer is trapped and the only way to evacuate is to find his way through the fire…in which case having a fire extinguisher within reach could ultimately save his life…
Plus, of course, if there is a small fire, and the chance to kill it before it gets any worse, than the fire extinguisher would be very useful…
Fire Drill
