Have you ever wondered how likely your business is to have a fire? Surely the probability can’t be that high, right?
Well, statistics for the latest year count 75,000 commercial incidents, meaning that, on average, you have a 2% chance of suffering a fire in your business premises.
However, that risk increases significantly for some sectors.
If you work in retail distribution, factories, or a restaurant, cafe or pub, you have the dubious honour of being right at the top of the fire safety risk league tables.
Perhaps that is no surprise when you think about the volume of flammable material and fire triggers that are naturally found in these kind of businesses. On the other hand, if you work in construction you can breathe easy! It’s possible to count the number of fire incidents virtually on the fingers of one hand.
There is some good news though. Since the introduction of ‘The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order in 2005 – commercial fires have reduced by a third and continue to decline.
Hotels, HMOs, schools, and hospitals have seen the biggest overall reductions. This is because the regulations introduced new measures for buildings where large numbers of people are found, but even the high risk sectors have dramatically improved.
So whether you work in freight, factories or foods, or hotels or hospitals, good fire protection will reduce the probability of having a fire right down. Our recommendation? Don’t risk being one of the 2%!
Read our post for specific advice on fire safety in care homes.