A survey of 1,000 UK employees, conducted ahead of Fire Door Safety Week, reveals that many employees were not even aware of the steps they should take if the fire alarm was to sound. Nearly a quarter (22 per cent) would look to see what everyone else was doing before taking action, 13 per cent would just ignore it and carry on working and 4 per cent would try and find the fire. The study, commissioned by IronmongeryDirect, finds that only 47 per cent of respondents are aware that their employer carried out regular fire risk assessments, which are a legal requirement.
Some 24 per cent say that they aren’t aware of regular risk assessments and 29 per cent don’t know either way. When asked about fire door safety, 53 per cent admit that they would not know how to spot a dodgy fire door and 28 per cent don’t actually know that it was illegal to prop open a fire door without a specially designed device approved by the fire authority.
Wayne Lysaght-Mason, managing director at IronmongeryDirect says that having robust fire safety procedures in place in the workplace is of the utmost importance as business owners have a duty to ensure that their staff members are safe.
‘Failure to implement a proper fire safety plan not only puts people’s lives at risk, but can lead to prosecution and fines for those responsible for fire safety in the building.
‘One of the most crucial methods of stopping the spread of a fire is to install fire doors and so it is important that they are installed and maintained properly and comply with fire regulations.’
