Duty of Care On Site
If you are a business owner, you have a duty of care to employees and visitors when they are on your premise or worksite. But how do you deliver on that duty of care?
Our checklist will support you to deliver - not only through protecting the lives of your employees and customer, but by minimising the financial impact of an incident.
The checklist:
ALARMS: Make sure you have a functioning alarm system to alert people if there is an emergency. This may include smoke alarms, thermal detection, fire sprinklers or may even be as simple as an airhorn - as long as people understand it is an emergency warning.
EVACUATION PLANS: Display evacuation plans throughout the facility. These will show the best escape routes, where to find emergency equipment, and where the assembly area is. Make sure you practice evacuations every 6 months to ensure the plan works and people understand it – practice makes perfect, and in an emergency we want things to go as perfectly as possible.
EQUIPMENT: Fire extinguishers need to be located throughout the facility and be clearly visible and accessible – Fire Rescue NSW recommends having a 1000mm clearance around any fire extinguisher so it can be easily reached in an emergency. Fire extinguishers must be inspected every 6 months by a suitably qualified person.
EQUIPMENT PLACEMENT: Check that the emergency equipment you have installed in your facility is suitable for the risk. You don’t want a water extinguisher next to an electrical switchboard or kitchen.
SIGNAGE: Make sure you have appropriate signage installed for people to easily identify emergency equipment. This will include what types of fires each extinguisher is suitable for. Australian standards specify the requirements for emergency signage.
TRAINING: Workers who may have to use emergency equipment shall be trained in operating it safely. Without the correct training and knowledge the situation could be made far worse.
EGRESS: Inspect emergency exits regularly, they need to be freely accessible (no obstructions such as boxes, pellets, or rubbish bins) and unlocked. You shouldn’t need a key or code to open an emergency exit.
MAINTENANCE: Poorly maintained electrical equipment can easily start a fire, make sure you have had your electrical equipment tested and tagged as required, don’t overload power points, and shut down electronics when everyone leaves.
DANGEROUS GOODS: Avoid storing or stockpiling dangerous goods where public could access them, if you are storing dangerous goods, ensure they are stored in a suitably rated enclosure and meet legislative requirements. Hand sanitizer is a highly flammable liquid – where is yours stored?
And then there’s minimising disruption so you can get back on your feet quickly after an incident
WARDENS: A dedicated warden structure and first aid officer will pay dividends in an emergency, and everyone should have completed an evacuation drill and know where the assembly area is.
BACK UP YOUR BACK UPS: Have a system in place to protect any important information which may be lost if you lose your facility to fire. Secure cloud-based storage means you can access information and files remotely.
INSURANCE: Check your fire insurance,. Has your business expanded since you obtained your insurance? Don’t get caught short, a fire could wipe out all your stock and operations for a number of months.