When a fire occurs in your place of business – no matter how many safeguards and fire suppression systems that you might have installed – the overriding concern is making sure that each and every employee evacuates as quickly as possible.
Business fire escape plans can face a number of challenges, including geographically-dispersed buildings, taller structures where exits are located far away from offices, and the presence of chemicals and other flammable materials that can pose substantial risk to evacuees.
In honor of National Fire Prevention week, October 7-13, 2012, here are five of the most important tips to consider when you’re putting together a business fire escape plan.
1. Fire Extinguisher Training. No one expects employees to risk their lives fighting a fire instead of evacuating as quickly as possible. That being said, by equipping an office, factory, or warehouse with an adequate number of fire extinguishers, as well as training workers in how to properly use them, it’s possible to give those trying to escape a better chance of making it outside the building safely. Fire extinguishers can be used en route to put out smaller fires blocking escape paths, or they can help keep flames under control until everyone can be safely evacuated from a section of the building.
2. Planning. Escape plans must be updated in order to reflect changes to the workplace – different cubicle assignments, new construction, or movement of inventory. It’s not enough to adopt a “set it and forget it” policy when it comes to fire escape planning. A reality check of each plan is also crucial to make sure that it avoids elevators, potential choke points where hallways become narrow, or exits into areas where obstacles, walls, or natural barriers would prevent workers from leaving the scene of the fire in a quick and efficient manner.
3. Practice. Practice. Practice. Escape drills should be done regularly – at least as often as you test your fire alarm system – and new employees should be introduced to the fire escape plan as quickly as possible. Designate fire leaders on each floor of your building and make sure they understand each escape route, the number of employees they are responsible for, and their roles in ensuring everyone has left the building safely. They can do that by taking a headcount.
4. Maintain Your MSDS Sheets. Material safety data sheets (MSDS) are important for companies that handle flammable chemicals or products. When planning fire escape routes, take into account the MSDS sheets associated with inventory stored in a given building, and avoid sending workers toward materials that could pose safety risks. Update escape plans as often as needed when new, potentially hazardous inventory is housed.
5. Keep Exits Clear And Unlocked. You know that door at the back of the warehouse that no one ever uses – the one with the Fire Exit sign illuminated over top of it? You need to ensure that the area immediately in front of the door – on either side of it – doesn’t become a stacking ground for boxes, equipment, or other items. It’s also crucial to keep these doors unlocked and unchained. If you must, install an alarm that goes off should the door be opened (for access control), but ensure that a push from the inside will instantly open it up and allow employees to escape.
Top Five Fire Safety Tips for the Home
/by American Alarm Blogging TeamOctober 7th marks the beginning of Fire Prevention Week. What better way to honor that week then to remind homeowners about the top ways to prevent fires. Below is a video blog (and transcript) on the top five fire safety tips for your home.
2. Heat Safely. The second biggest fire threat is from home heating systems. Check wood stoves for cracks or anything that might compromise a hinge or leg. Don’t burn trash. It will build residue on your chimney, which along with your furnace, needs a professional cleaning at least once a
year.
Also, any item that can burn needs to be at least a few feet away from heating equipment, especially troublesome accessories like space heaters. Space heaters are generally more dangerous than central heaters and send 6,000 Americans to the hospital every year.
Read more →
Top 5 Fire Escape Tips for Your Business
/by American Alarm Blogging TeamBusiness fire escape plans can face a number of challenges, including geographically-dispersed buildings, taller structures where exits are located far away from offices, and the presence of chemicals and other flammable materials that can pose substantial risk to evacuees.
In honor of National Fire Prevention week, October 7-13, 2012, here are five of the most important tips to consider when you’re putting together a business fire escape plan.
1. Fire Extinguisher Training. No one expects employees to risk their lives fighting a fire instead of evacuating as quickly as possible. That being said, by equipping an office, factory, or warehouse with an adequate number of fire extinguishers, as well as training workers in how to properly use them, it’s possible to give those trying to escape a better chance of making it outside the building safely. Fire extinguishers can be used en route to put out smaller fires blocking escape paths, or they can help keep flames under control until everyone can be safely evacuated from a section of the building.
2. Planning. Escape plans must be updated in order to reflect changes to the workplace – different cubicle assignments, new construction, or movement of inventory. It’s not enough to adopt a “set it and forget it” policy when it comes to fire escape planning. A reality check of each plan is also crucial to make sure that it avoids elevators, potential choke points where hallways become narrow, or exits into areas where obstacles, walls, or natural barriers would prevent workers from leaving the scene of the fire in a quick and efficient manner.
3. Practice. Practice. Practice. Escape drills should be done regularly – at least as often as you test your fire alarm system – and new employees should be introduced to the fire escape plan as quickly as possible. Designate fire leaders on each floor of your building and make sure they understand each escape route, the number of employees they are responsible for, and their roles in ensuring everyone has left the building safely. They can do that by taking a headcount.
4. Maintain Your MSDS Sheets. Material safety data sheets (MSDS) are important for companies that handle flammable chemicals or products. When planning fire escape routes, take into account the MSDS sheets associated with inventory stored in a given building, and avoid sending workers toward materials that could pose safety risks. Update escape plans as often as needed when new, potentially hazardous inventory is housed.
5. Keep Exits Clear And Unlocked. You know that door at the back of the warehouse that no one ever uses – the one with the Fire Exit sign illuminated over top of it? You need to ensure that the area immediately in front of the door – on either side of it – doesn’t become a stacking ground for boxes, equipment, or other items. It’s also crucial to keep these doors unlocked and unchained. If you must, install an alarm that goes off should the door be opened (for access control), but ensure that a push from the inside will instantly open it up and allow employees to escape.
9 Tips to Keep College Kids Safe on Campus
/by American Alarm Blogging TeamAs the Federal Bureau of Investigation reports, the environment of a college is much different than the high school environment a student is accustomed to. In a college setting, the student is exposed to many more buildings and larger classrooms, and has less control over access.
Varying student schedules minimize routine contact between students and educators, making it less conducive for educators to recognize the concerns of their students. Additionally the developmental stressors of the college environment – academic and social pressures, along with the need to establish self-sufficiency – may cause students to socially withdraw or turn to alcohol or drugs, increasing the chances they might be victims of crimes or even the perpetrators.
In an effort to make both students and parents aware of the dangers on college campuses and offer students guidance on ways to keep themselves safe, colleges all across the United States recognize September as National Campus Safety Awareness Month. Read more →
Top 3 Fire Escape Safety Tips
/by American Alarm Blogging TeamWhat’s the most important thing to do as soon as you know that your home is on fire?
If you answered “evacuate immediately,” you get a gold star – getting yourself and your loved ones out of a burning building is the number one priority in the event of a fire.
Despite this fact, most people don’t stop to think about the best way to rapidly leave their homes – especially if the home fire alarm system goes off in the middle of the night when most of the family is likely to be sleeping. Knowing where your exits are – and the quickest way to get to them – are two of the most important fire safety tips that you, your spouse, your children, and your guests should be aware of.
In honor of National Fire Prevention week, October 7-13, 2012, here are three important tips to help you and your loved ones get out of harm’s way as quickly as possible in the event of a fire. Read more →
Top 5 Ways To Avoid False Alarms
/1 Comment/by American Alarm Blogging TeamLet’s take a look at the top five ways you can avoid a false alarm at home or at work.
1) Education. It’s critical to ensure that everyone in your home, or every employee at your place of business, is fully trained in how to arm, disarm, and otherwise operate your security and fire systems. The most common type of false alarm occurs when someone forgets that the system is armed when he enters a building, or can’t remember his access code. It’s also important that everyone involved knows how to contact the alarm system provider, if necessary, in order to deal with a malfunctioning system.
2) Repairs and Maintenance. A broken window sensor, an old smoke detector, a ragged wire attached to a door sensor – these are all easy-to-repair items that can be responsible for triggering a false alarm at the central monitoring station if they’re not fixed. If you don’t feel like you have the expertise required to take care of a suspected problem, then contact your installer as soon as possible so that a technician can be dispatched and the issue corrected. Keeping smoke detectors and motion sensors clean from dust and other gunk is also critical.
3) Testing. Does your home security system provider offer timer testing to ensure that communication between the central monitoring facility and your location is working properly? Has your fire alarm system been properly tested, on schedule, according to local and national regulations? Simple tests performed on a regular basis can help identify any potential problems with equipment before they trigger false alarms.
4) Plan for Pets. It happens on a regular basis: a homeowner has an alarm system installed, and then later on brings a new dog or cat home only to have the animal trip the motion sensors and cause a false alarm. Make sure to upgrade your motion sensors to pet-friendly units so you can avoid having this happen to you.
5) Have More Than One Method For Deactivating The System. Did your home security system come with a remote control? Do you know where it is? Does your business alarm system offer a mobile app? Have you installed it and been shown how to use it? Take advantage of your system’s multiple access points and use them as fallbacks should you, a family member, or an employee have trouble deactivating a false alarm from the primary keypad.
Owning a Guard Dog Doesn’t Mean You Don’t Need a Security System
/2 Comments/by American Alarm Blogging TeamWhile it is true that a guard dog does offer a certain degree of protection against thieves for a home or business, it’s far from the most effective method of keeping one’s family and property safe. In fact, guard dogs should be considered merely one facet of a comprehensive security strategy.
Guard dogs are prized due to their ability to intimidate potential intruders with loud barking and snarling – clear indications to “stay away” that some people feel will deter even the most professional of thieves and send them toward a softer target. Those in the home security system business, however, are well aware of the shortcomings of relying exclusively on guard dogs.
Dogs can be distracted in a number of ways – loud sounds, food, other animals – and that means that they can have their attention pulled away long enough for someone to break into your property. Check out this funny ad that emphasizes this point.
It’s also possible, in worst case scenarios, for dogs to be poisoned by food that has been laced with something toxic, or to even be attacked when they surprise individuals who are armed and intent on robbing your home or business. There’s also the difficulty of keeping dogs fed and sheltered while you’re away on vacation, which is one of the most common times for a home to be hit by burglars.
These caveats make it clear that while guard dogs do offer a real benefit when it comes to protecting property, they must be combined with a properly-installed business alarm system or home alarm system in order to provide total peace of mind.
Knowing that if a burglar gets past your guard dog he’ll still have to deal with the unblinking eye of your security system. That means not having to worry about whether your faithful animal has been outsmarted or harmed in the middle of the night.
It also means that when you’re away you can enjoy far greater protection for your home or business, including remote monitoring of your system’s status and the ability to communicate with you almost instantly via a text message or phone call in the event of a break-in – something that simply isn’t possible when relying on a guard dog.
Licensed Security Specialists vs. National Utility Security Divisions – A Comparison
/by American Alarm Blogging TeamAfter all, having the name of a major utility on the warning label affixed to your front door, alerting potential thieves that you have an alarm installed, can sometimes add peace of mind to the equation. The real question is: What trade-offs are associated with choosing an alarm provider that doesn’t make security its number one business focus?
Mega-utilities are definitely prepared to cover the basics when it comes to offering home and business security packages. The deep pockets of nationwide companies ensure a reasonable investment in technology and service, similar to what you’d receive from your cable or mobile phone provider. Pricing is also usually competitive. These large companies offer several different packages that are targeted to the needs of the average family or organization. Read more →
Untested Alarm System Costs Siskiyou County $3 Million
/2 Comments/by American Alarm Blogging TeamJust ask officials at the Siskiyou County Courthouse in California, who were shocked to discover that the failure of the security system protecting $3 million in gold resulted in a clean getaway for the thieves who simply smashed a hole in the glass case protecting the historical artifacts and grabbed everything they could.
The gold nuggets had been a theft target once before in 1979, when the silent alarm functioned as intended and the would-be marauders were apprehended roughly a block away from the courthouse with the illicit wares in their possession. This time, however, the vibration alarm that was meant to protect the irreplaceable gold nuggets – some of which date back to the town’s founding – did not respond at all. A town spokesperson stated that the system had been properly armed, and that the county was working with its security provider to get to the bottom of the glitch.
Perhaps the most telling aspect of the sad story surrounding the Siskiyou gold is a footnote at the bottom of the article that mentions an annual security alarm test schedule. According to the Courthouse, the last test occurred in August of 2011, nearly seven months before the February theft.
There is an important lesson that business and property owners can learn from the tragic tale of the Siskiyou theft, and that is that it’s not enough to rely on a single alarm system test every 12 months. So much can happen within a year’s time, especially in a heavily-trafficked space such as a courthouse or a retail space, that it really becomes necessary to perform an alarm system test at least once per quarter, if not once per month.
American Alarm programs a timer test with its business security systems that can send communications weekly or daily, depending on the type of signals being monitored. If our central station operators do not receive a signal, we contact the owner immediately to determine the cause of the missed communication, and find a solution to the issue.
It costs nothing to make sure that your alarm system is functioning up to spec – what’s the price tag of not knowing? In the case of Siskiyou County, the figure would seem to be $3 million.
5 Summer Fire Safety Tips
/3 Comments/by American Alarm Blogging TeamIt’s certainly relaxing to enjoy a beach bonfire with friends and loved ones, or roast marshmallows by the lake or in the backyard fire pit, but it’s also important to ensure that everyone stays safe by observing a few simple fire protection guidelines.
American Alarm would like to thank FEMA and the U.S. Fire Administration for their assistance in putting together this list of five summer fire safety tips: Read more →
Home Security Tip: Shut the Door on Security Alarm Scams
/3 Comments/by American Alarm Blogging TeamDoor-to-door salespeople aren’t as common as they used to be.
Before you breathe a sigh of relief, you should be aware of an apparent door-to-door scam that plagued New Yorkers recently. Security alarm customers got knocks on their doors followed by allegedly false sales pitches.
Here’s how it went down, according to the Gannet news service. A sales operative approaches the potential customer and says, “Your company’s going out of business why don’t you switch over to us?” or “Your company’s merging with us.”
According to the New York AG’s office, people who signed up wound up with two different accounts and no easy way to close either.
Eventually the company alleged to have committed these offenses did pay compensation to the victims. But all of them would have been better off if they’d looked into the claims before signing. You should be immediately suspicious of any unexpected visit from someone claiming to be with your alarm company or a related company. A respectable alarm company won’t engage in a deceptive door-to-door campaign.
You can always politely decline the encounter and contact your security provider to report the solicitation. If you don’t already have an alarm company, it’s probably still not a good idea to purchase from a door knocker. In all likelihood, they don’t even represent a local, full-service security firm.
Now, if you want to know more about the New York switch scam, click the video description. We’ve provided a link.