When it comes to owning or managing a commercial building, safety sits top of the agenda, and rightly so. Here at MFM, safety is at the heart of everything we do, and the industry-leading fire and security systems our sub-contractors provide can help give you and your workers one (or two!) less thing/s to worry about.
Whether your building is an office, school, university, laboratory, retail premise or another type of commercial building, our guide below outlines our top tips to minimise any fire and security risks. The pay-off being a safer and happier workplace for all those who use it – worth it, don’t you think?
Fire and Security Top Tips
First, let’s consider some tips for reducing the risk of a fire or security incident happening in the first place.
Regular Maintenance and System Checks
Making sure electrical systems are working properly can reduce the risk of these causing a fire to break out. Here at MFM we aim to keep our clients’ properties fully functional at all times and provide planned maintenance schedules to regularly identify potential future issues or electrical fire risks. In the unlikely event of a fault happening, we also offer a LIVE service whereby a talented member of our team is on call 24/7, 365 days of the year.
Educate Employees
The safety of your workers, when it comes to fire risks, can be greatly improved through education. Simple and inexpensive things such as clearly visible fire safety signs in multiple locations around the building can be used, particularly in high risk areas such as kitchens. You should also make sure workers are aware of where to find fire extinguishers and their nearest fire exit.
Workplace Policies
There are a number of policies that can help boost the security of your building. Ensuring all employees wear identification badges can help to reduce the likelihood of someone being in the building who shouldn’t. A strict no smoking policy can help reduce the risk of a fire breaking out and regular training in security and fire procedures can help to ensure employees are fully aware of what to do in the event of a fire. You may also like to designate fire wardens. This way, you are making it a team effort to reduce fire and security risks, which is more likely to be successful than the responsibility landing solely on one person’s shoulders.
CCTV
CCTV can help to catch those involved in a break-in or a breach of security but can also act as a deterrent from the event happening in the first place. Before investing in CCTV, it is worth taking the time to plan where you need it and how to optimise its use. Making sure all areas of the building are well-lit, for example, can be the difference between successful use of CCTV or not. Here at MFM, our experienced surveyors will work with you to optimise the level of security to suit your budget.
Property Maintenance
It may (or may not) sound surprising, but well-maintained properties tend to be less appealing to burglars and vandalism. Make sure dark areas are well-lit or reduce the amount of darkened areas by maintaining any large shrubs and trees that surround your property. Keeping on top of any debris and graffiti can also help.
Access Control
As well as ensuring your building is protected from those entering who may pose a security risk to your workforce, access control can also be utilised in a variety of ways once inside your building. For example, a particular room containing high value items could be protected by only allowing certain personnel to have access to it.
Regardless of the numerous preventative measures you may have in place, the reality is that there is always the risk of a breach in security or a fire breaking out. The next tips are more specific to the systems you can put in place to help reduce the damage, should the worst happen.
Installing Fire systems
Both smoke alarms and fire detectors are vital to the safety of your building. Make sure the systems you put in place are complaint with legislation and as previously mentioned are regularly checked and maintained. Here at MFM, we offer a full fire security package – from system design, installation and maintenance. We guarantee that all of services conform with the British Standard BS 5839 and up-to-date health and safety regulations.
Automatic Sprinkler Systems and Fire Extinguishers
These can be a relatively inexpensive way to provide 24/7 protection and to help reduce the level of damage in the unfortunate event of a fire. What’s more, having these in place can often reduce insurance premiums on your commercial building.
Intruder Alarms
These often involve motion detection to alert you to suspect activity when the building is left unattended. The loud sirens will most likely deter a burglar from continuing the intended burglary but as with CCTV, knowing an intruder alarm is in place can also be a valuable deterrent from a burglary happening in the first place. At MFM, our systems can be linked to a central monitoring station which will immediately notify the local police, or a nominated key holder should an alarm be activated.
Learn More with MFM Group
If you’re ready for safety to become less of a daunting prospect and would like to find out more about the range of fire and security systems MFM can offer via our sub-contractor specialists, please do not hesitate to get in touch with a member of our dedicated and trusted team today. What’s more, in an increasingly fast-changing world, here at MFM, we are passionate about the safety of our customers and taking a responsible attitude to the work we carry out. You can rest assured that before we undertake any work, we will proactively address any risk to the surrounding areas and work together to protect the environment, conserve biodiversity and to keep any impact to the absolute minimum. We believe this sets us apart from the rest.
For more information and to discuss our services, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here at MFM.