How Commercial Fire Safety Has Been Affected by COVID-19

1/26/2021 (Permalink)

Blog Summary: SERVPRO of Carrollton explains how COVID-19 is presenting fire safety challenges that businesses need to address. These challenges include ingress and egress concerns, the potential for blocked exits, altered evacuation plans and protocols, furloughed or unavailable staff in charge of fire safety, and building alterations.

SERVPRO of Carrollton provides commercial damage restoration and cleaning services to the business community of Carrollton and North Dallas. Fire, smoke, water, mold, and storm damage services are available on a scale to accommodate a small, isolated property damage disaster or a catastrophic property damage disaster encompassing multiple structures and millions of square feet.

Pandemic Paradigm Shifts in Commercial Fire Safety Practices

COVID-19 has caused a cascade of changes in the structure and implementation of fire safety training and practices in the commercial environment. Scale, cost, and liability have a bearing on both quality control and safety initiatives pertaining to COVID-19 prevention and containment strategies in the workplace.

Coping with COVID-19 safety protocols in the workforce, such as social distancing, self-quarantining, handwashing, masking, and health screening at designated entrances, presents new and unforeseen challenges in terms of fire safety standards.

A leading news and information service for the facilities, workplace, and built environment community describes the fire risk management challenges in the following terms: “Not only must the implications of a new office layout and social distancing be considered, but employers must navigate other additional changes in risk in their buildings. Many businesses, whether they have remained open, or not, are experiencing changes in risk. In all cases, businesses should be aware of these changes in risk and review their Fire Risk Assessments (FRA) accordingly, to ensure they are suitable and sufficient, as recommended…”

Here are some specific tips that need to be considered when reconfiguring fire safety plans to accommodate COVID-19 health and safety guidelines.

Tip #1: Account for vulnerable people.

Now more than ever, risk management encompasses not just employees but also other onsite personnel not directly employed by the company. These special circumstances include workers and service providers such as contract labor, vendors, or other onsite personnel or support businesses. Many businesses contract technicians working in quality control, equipment maintenance, cleaning services, IT management, or health services who provide onsite services during and after the workday. Fire safety plan managers have, in the past, factored this non-employee onsite personnel into the facility’s fire safety plan. Similarly, the challenges presented by COVID-19 for special circumstances are not unique, but they are nuanced.

In response to COVID-19, businesses have made adjustments that allow employees with health vulnerabilities to return to work. These accommodations include such options as isolating the employee in a separate office. Fire safety escape plans must consider these circumstances when configuring a fire escape plan and must ensure that isolated employees are notified and evacuated.

Employers, whether C-level corporate management or onsite fire safety managers, will need to revisit and revise emergency evacuation plans for their staff and other onsite personnel. Procedures must accurately reflect the workforce and account for any additional risks arising from the establishment of new working locations or job performance patterns.

Tip #2: Revise safety plans to reflect facility renovations.

Companies and business owners must be aware of the potential risk incurred when making temporary alterations to buildings in order to comply with COVID-19 mandates. Direct circumvention of existing building and fire codes puts a commercial business at risk of litigation. A cursory risk analysis reveals the unfavorable nature of the exposure.

Examples of at-risk alterations include propping fire doors open to reduce the need to touch and possibly contaminate door handles. These door handles, doorknobs, crash bars, and other ingress/egress touchpoints could cause the spread of COVID-19. Propping open a fire door affects fire protection along two dimensions: fire prevention and occupant escape. Fire doors are constructed of materials designed to prevent and inhibit the spread of a structural fire.

Wedging open the fire door neutralizes its fire protection capacity. Fire doors are also clearly marked to direct occupants to approved escape routes. An open door is much less conspicuous than a closed door. Also, the unauthorized opening of a fire door can trigger the fire alert system for the building and summon first responder fire crews. In some instances, fees and fines may be levied by fire departments when they respond to false alarms.

Other alterations that may compromise the effectiveness of a fire safety plan include:

• Partitioning areas in such a way that the avenues of escape are blocked or disguised
• Locking or chaining standard doors to primary or secondary exits in order to channel employee and pedestrian traffic through screening centers
• Repurposing areas for different tasks, production lines, or storage

Managers and safety personnel need to review and revise the existing fire safety plan, assess the new risk levels, and execute appropriate risk mitigation measures.

Tip #3: Fill staffing gaps in fire safety teams.

Safety team members absent due to furloughs, self-isolation, or actual sickness must have their spots filled by responsible persons capable of fulfilling the task.

Tip #4: The owner or manager should enlist the services of a professional fire risk assessor.

Enlisting the services of a knowledgeable, certified, and proven risk consultant enables the owner or manager to leverage the expertise of a professional risk engineer in order to create a fire safety plan that will prevent fires and save lives.

Tip #5: Plan to recover in case of a fire and water damage disaster.

A business owner or manager should have not only a fire safety plan but also a fire damage recovery plan. Through strategic planning, if and when a disaster strikes, a commercial fire damage restoration response team can be onsite, staged, and ready to begin the fire, smoke, and water damage restoration action plan within seconds of receiving official permission from the fire chief, business owner, or management team. A swift response means a swift return to normal operations and a positive ROI.

SERVPRO of Carrollton is skilled and experienced in providing commercial property damage restoration services. Business owners and property managers across the United States entrust their property damage restoration and commercial cleaning needs to local SERVPRO professionals.

For more information about commercial fire damage restoration in Carrollton, TX, contact the office by phone at (972) 446-0383 or by email at office@SERVPRO10952.com.