Many More Industries and Accident Claims

We hope all your blog readers have enjoyed the posts about working on construction sites and hopefully we’ve highlighted some potential dangers and hazards that might have led to a personal injury claim or compensation claim.

There are many other industries where accidents can happen and we will be writing about these in the next few weeks. Is there a particular industry that you would like us to write about? Maybe you work in an industry and want to highlight the issues about health and safety and any potential or actual accident claim?

We would love to hear from you, so post your comments below.

School Fire Alarms and Students

The personal safety of students and staff is important to everyone who enters a school building. There is a need to make sure that every person knows the escape routes and the quickest way out. One concern can always be students at the top floor of a school building have to exit quickly as there would be no other options. This is why fire doors are used within large buildings to contain a fire as much as possible and prevent it spreading across an entire floor.

Students, especially younger children are prone to panicking more and therefore the need for a calm and efficient exit of a building is essential to avoid accidents or falls. Teachers will be well practiced in keeping students calm and getting them to move along quickly to avoid an accident or compensation claim.

Office Fires and Preventing Accident Claim

Office working environments differ from construction sites and in the majority of cases employees should exit the building as soon as possible, rather than trying to fight the fire or extinguish it. As part of inductions, employees are shown where to go in the event of a fire and the nearest fire escape route.

Often office floors can have lots of different office partitions making it even more boxed off and people all trying to get through the main doors. If done correctly, staff can still exit the building without causing an accident that might result in an accident claim.

Often offices are connected through to the local fire station. As soon as the alarm is activated, the fire service is also alerted. In training exercises they are pre-warned to prevent an unnecessary call out

Fires on a Construction Site

On a construction site there will be specific and identified points and the fire extinguisher will be appropriate to the nature of the potential fire.  The use of chemicals and potential hazards mean that only trained people should use the fire extinguishers.  As a general rule;

• Water is used to extinguish wood, paper and cloth
• Dry powder or foam extinguisher is used for flammable liquids
• Carbon dioxide extinguisher must be used for electrical items.

Using the wrong extinguisher can create a bigger hazard as sometimes the elements within the extinguisher will add fuel to the existing fire and cause an accident or that might need someone to make or enquire about compensation claims

Fighting Fires At Work

If you are working in an office there is usually a need for a fire person or fire warden. The role and responsibility for this person is to ensure everyone knows what to do in an emergency and they will also be trained in what fire extinguishers are required for which fire.

Fighting fires is not something which should be taken on lightly. Professionals are trained for years with the correct equipment to extinguish fires safely without causing injury which might lead to a compensation claims. In some cases a person might make the situation worse and end up endangering their own live by trying to tackle a fire within the correct training. In the next few posts we take a look at some of the training and situations that are involved in fire training.

Construction Site Fire Alarms

A fire cannot immediately be seen by everyone. If you are working in an office, the sound of an alarm is normally all that is needed to alert everyone to exit the building quickly. Unfortunately, a construction site is slightly different. 

At any point within the construction site the noise of machinery and vehicles would drown out the sound of a regular alarm. The fact that a lot of employees can be spread across the whole of the site means that one alarm would not be sufficient. 

The alarms for any construction site must be regularly tested to ensure they are working. This applies for any building site, office, warehouse or home. The more time employees have to escape the better as this avoids last minute panic, rushing and the potential for an accident that might lead to a personal injury claim.

Often large sites benefit from a Klaxon that is sounded. This can sometimes be used to indicate rest times aswell, so the klaxon will have a different sound or sounds to indicate the alarm.  Sometimes an air horn or a whistle is also used depending on the size of the construction site. 

A warehouse would have the same warning as a construction site as there are a lot of support functions and people working over noise and vehicles. The need to reduce personal injury, which might result in a personal injury claim is important, but the main purpose of an alarm is to get all employees out of the building quicker as possible.

Construction Site Fire Escape Routes and Planning

When a fire takes hold the first plan is always to escape and get out as soon as possible, using the quickest route possible and of course the safest route. This will reduce injury which might lead to a personal injury claim,
The main ways to ensure there is a safe means of escape will differ from industry to industry as an office building will have different processes to a construction site. The processes for a building site or construction site include the following;

Checking routes and making sure they are available, kept available and of course unobstructed.
If there are any alternative routes that can be utilised, these should be highlighted as routes to the ground level. In some circumstances, not every route will accessible or available, depending on where the fire may have started. 

Protection from fire spreading is something which is important and can be implemented with fire doors or other forms of permanent fire separation. This will contain any fire to a specific area rather than it spreading across the whole building or floor.

Fire assembly points must be known and safe distance away. One a small construction site this is usually a pavement. Every employee must know these points in advance and the quickest way there.
Finally signs must be obvious incase there are people who might not be aware of the escape routes. These need to be clearly shown.

If employees, contractors or visitors know the fire escape plans and procedures it will help reduce panic and confusion in the event of a fire. Also, it will reduce any injury or subsequent compensation claims caused during a rush or panic to exit as soon as possible.