A fire in a warehouse or other storage facility can be extremely dangerous due to the amount of 
flammable materials inside. The huge volumes of paper, cardboard and electrical equipment within a warehouse can cause fire to spread quickly.
As well as causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to mechanical equipment and commercial stock, employees can be at risk of injury or even in extreme circumstances, death. A large warehouse fire can also disrupt your fulfilment services for an extended amount of time, causing massive drops in profits.
Remember: being insured against fire damage won’t prevent a fire from breaking out.
Ensuring the safety of employees is paramount in the event of a fire. Regular fire safety drills and clearly labelled fire procedures posted in easy to read places in the staff areas and warehouse floors can save lives if followed properly. Designate a safe area far away from the warehouse to check that everyone has left the building.
Investing in proper fire preventing equipment such as fire extinguishers and smoke detectors is a good idea. Having fire extinguishers ready to hand can stop a small fire from growing out of control. Regularly checking that smoke detectors are functioning can also alert staff to an unseen fire and help prevent it spread.
If you store hazardous or other highly flammable materials in your warehouse you will probably already have strict health and safety procedures in place. It is important that all new staff are trained to deal with potentially dangerous materials, and yearly training top ups will encourage good health and safety practises.
An automatic sprinkler system situated throughout the warehouse can quickly stop smaller fires, and can massively help the fire services to put out larger ones. Making sure that this potentially life saving system is running at all times can help control the damage caused by fire.
Carrying out regular fire safety assessments and inspections in and around the building can also help to prevent fires, which includes checking that fire escapes and fire safety doors are clear from warehouse debris and bulky items that can block exits.
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