Ensuring fire safety in commercial towers is a major responsibility for facility management companies. While this is essential to protect staff and customers, it also serves to protect equipment, tools, records, and the tower itself. Here are the four crucial elements to a commercial tower’s fire safety system:
1. Fire Alarms
Fire alarms are considered the first line of defense when it comes to the potential risk of a fire and it is the most crucial part of a building’s fire safety system.
In case of a fire, the alarm will sound, alerting all persons in the building that they must immediately evacuate. It is for this reason that fire alarms need to be maintained and inspected regularly to ensure they are in good operating condition. Besides maintenance, regular tests should be conducted alongside proper fire drills to ensure that all employees in the tower understand the evacuation procedures.
2. Emergency Lights and Exit Signs
In the event of a fire, the environment can be one of chaos as electrical power is lost and smoke obscures vision for people. Emergency lights and exit signs are imperative to assist people to evacuate under these conditions. These lights and exit signs are designed to light up when the main power is lost and so they help give orderliness to a chaotic situation where people may be panicking.
To ensure people can find their way out, these devices must be in place and must be tested regularly to ensure that they are in proper working condition.
3. Fire Extinguishers
Strategically placed fire extinguishers provide people with an accessible and immediate means to put out a small fire and to also stop the spread of one as people evacuate. As a standard, fire extinguishers should be mounted on walls at distances of less then 75 feet apart. This ensures that in such a situation, people do not need to move more than 75 feet to reach a fire extinguisher.
At the same time, extinguishers should be in place near exits to ensure proper access to them as well so that no one has to go into a burning building to get to a fire extinguisher.
Finally, employees should be trained on operating a fire extinguisher in case it is needed.
4. Fire Sprinkler/Standpipe Systems
Despite the potential losses, many commercial facilities have sprinkler systems installed which react to heat and in turn, activate the sprinkler system to extinguish large fires. This system also needs regular maintenance and inspection.