Any firefighter will tell you that the best way to fight a fire is to stop it from ever getting started. And while this advice seems obvious, it always surprises us how many companies we audit which do not have adequate fire prevention and protection procedures. And since we consider adequate to simply mean following the basic requirements of OSHA Standard 1910.155, that means that these companies are not only putting their employees at risk, they are in violation of an important OSHA standard.

This standard regulates fire protection and prevention equipment and processes. It sets minimum guidelines for what equipment is required to be present in a facility. It further sets guidelines on how often this equipment must be tested, how it must be stored and maintained, and how it must be labeled. The type of equipment covered in this standard is very basic fire prevention equipment. This is equipment such as fire extinguishers, fire alarms, employee alarms, sprinkler systems, and smoke detectors. A majority of fires can be prevented or suppressed with this basic equipment.

If your facility is lacking any of these items, or if they are not regularly tested and maintained, then it might be time to review your fire protection procedures. And if you want to bring your facility’s fire protection planning up to a higher standard, please contact a qualified third party safety auditing firm to guide you in that; it is one of the best things you can do for your employees.

If you have any questions about standard 1910.155 or about fire protection in general, please contact us. If you have anything to add about the importance of fire protection planning, please leave a comment.