Fire Extinguisher Maintenance: Keeping It Safe
Fire Extinguisher Maintenance: Keeping It Safe
In between your fire risk assessments with us it is vitally important to still maintain your fire extinguisher and keep it up to standard to safeguard you and your premises. A poorly maintained extinguisher can be equally if not more dangerous than being without one completely.
Water, foam, Carbon Dioxide (CO₂), powder, water mist and wet chemical extinguishers are the five types you can get, you may even find yourself to have more than one type in the property. Whilst they are all different the overall care roughly remains the same.
When reviewing the fire extinguisher, it is important to consider that nothing is blocking the equipment such as chairs and coats that could mean accessing it in the event of a fire could be difficult. Make sure it clear and visible. This also applies to ensuring the nozzle or other parts are not hindered in any way.
Checking the pressure is at the recommended level in the fire extinguisher is unquestionably essential, if it has a gauge make sure the needle is in the green area.
If the extinguisher has a pin and tamper make sure they are intact, if it has come out it could loose pressure making it useless in an emergency.
Wipe off any oil or corrosive chemicals etc from the extinguisher as soon as notice it on there. If there are any signs of rust, leaks, dents, or wear and tear in general it will need to be replaced.
Individual instructions and maintenance recommendations can differ depending on manufacturer or model, so make sure to read the instructions.
Remember the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 BS5306 Part 3: 2017 specifies that all fire extinguishers should be serviced at least once a year by a ‘competent’ person. If you wanted an initial discussion about how we could service, install or maintain your extinguishers call us on 0345 646 0122 or check out our Contact Us page.