Do you work in an office decorated with many ordinary materials such as nylon, wool and silk?
Or did you just copy and paste that from some website?
No, I don't and no, I did not.
I used to be a fire warden and had all the fire extinguisher/smoke room/fire hose training back in the late 80s.
In recent years we've had all the extinguishers taken out of the building and everyone has been made to complete a CBT which was essentially a cartoon stick man raising the alarm on discovery of a fire, and then leaving the building by the nearest fire exit. All our fire signs have been changed to simply say...
In the event of a fire
1. Raise the alarm
2. Exit building
3. Go to assembly point
I am also an accredited Evac Chair trainer, as one of the people I manage is a wheelchair user. All the advice I've had from all the industry experts I've spoken to in the last 5 years or so re fire safety revolves around prevention and escape plans.
The most recent conversation I had with the fire inspectors who came to see my certificates and chair servicing records threw more light on the subject. They basically said that unless you had breathing apparatus on, you should never fight any fire in the workplace.
You cannot possibly be expected to know exactly what is burning, and the vital seconds you waste with an extinguisher could render you unconscious, or could be the seconds in which an explosive material goes bang. Smoke is the biggest killer in a fire and you need not to be around it.
Bear in mind I work for a blue chip company and this is the latest thinking. HSE are no longer responsible for fire safety in the workplace, it is local Fire and Rescue services domain which is probably behind the change (this bit is from a website...
http://www.hse.gov.uk/fireandexplosion/workplace.htm#building).
Disclaimer: I am not an expert. Do your own research. If you fancy fighting fires like a wannabe hero fireman, be my guest.
:icon_lol:
