Even a small fire in an industrial or commercial building can throw production off track, ruin inventory, and threaten employee health and safety. But if the fire is larger, or involves the entire structure, the damages and financial losses may be so great that the business simply cannot recover. When this happens, both the business owner and their employees can be financially harmed by the loss of their livelihood.

For all these reasons and more, taking steps to lessen fire risk is a critical need for every industrial and commercial business venture. If you are a business owner looking for ways to reduce your company's fire risk, here are some important fire safety tips to help you succeed. 

Maintain ongoing fire safety classes for key employees

In any factory, industrial, or commercial business setting, the roster of employees is subject to constant change. Employees retire, get promoted to other locations, or leave for a variety of other reasons. When the departing employees are those who held key positions requiring additional training in fire safety, their absence can leave an opening that must be kept filled through ongoing fire safety training.

Commercial and industrial business owners and managers can avoid finding themselves in this position by instituting a proactive fire safety training program to ensure that every shift has an excellent ratio of employees on the roster who have been fully educated on fire safety. 

Make sure that your fire extinguisher program expands and changes with your company

Another common problem that commercial and industrial business owners experience in relation to fire safety is when growth or changes in the company itself render its existing fire safety program less efficient. Common examples of this include:

• changing the building's footprint
• adding square footage to increase building size
• adding raw materials that have higher flammability risks 
• changing the manufacturing process in some way that increases the risk of some types of fire

To ensure that healthy growth and change in your business does not inadvertently increase fire risk, business owners should always have a proactive plan for fire safety training and the placement and type of fire extinguishers in their building. 

Work with a reputable fire extinguisher service to develop an optimal plan

Commercial and industrial business owners who want to enjoy peace of mind about the quality of their fire safety program can best accomplish this by opting to work with a reputable fire extinguisher service to develop and implement an optimal fire safety plan.