As a business owner or commercial landlord, you have a legal responsibility to ensure that your premises are safe and secure for your employees and anyone who visits your building.
Fire safety doors are a large aspect of this legal responsibility, performing a series of crucial purposes, such as protecting escape routes on stairs and corridors, containing the spread of fire, and providing spaces of relative safety.
Most people sail through life thinking that fires are something that happen to other people, but the truth is, fire doesn’t discriminate, it can start anywhere, for a variety of reasons.
It’s no exaggeration to say that fire doors make the difference between life and death, so it’s vital that you take it seriously.
Here’s why fire doors are critical for your business.
Your Legal Duty
Business owners’ legal and moral responsibilities concerning fire safety are numerous and varied.
The implementation of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order in 2006, fortified by the Fire Safety Act 2021, placed greater emphasis upon the responsibility of all building operators in England and Wales.
Put simply, this means a responsible person MUST be designated for every commercial property, and they have to take on several essential fire safety duties, including ensuring that UK standard fire doors are correctly fitted and maintained.
Installing fire doors that don’t meet UK standards puts UK landlords and business owners in breach of fire safety regulations, while also placing the people working or visiting the property at risk.
If you want to avoid the possibility of prosecution, we suggest you keep on top of developments surrounding fire safety regulations.
If you want a more detailed run down of the Fire Safety Act of 2021, then click here
Your Reputation
The tragedy of the 2017 Grenfell disaster is, quite rightly, imprinted itself on the national conscience and reminded us all of the vital importance of fire safety.
Although it’s always been an important issue, the unprecedented levels of coverage surrounding fire safety over the past few years has created an awareness we’ve arguably never seen before.
And it’s not just domestic fire settings that are in focus.
If a fire were to break out in your commercial property, how bad would it look to your suppliers, customers and the public if it was revealed that your property lacked the fire safety provisions that may have prevented catastrophic loss of life, injury or damage to items.
As you know, reputation is everything within the world of business.
Without it, your company won’t just lose business, it will lose current and future employees who will select more highly regarded organisations.
Your Employees
That leads us into arguably the most important reason fire doors are required: for the protection and peace of mind of your staff members.
Tragically, there have been over 500 fire-related deaths in the UK over the past three years.
While there are circumstances where little to nothing could be done to save lives, fire doors go a long way in reducing the risk of fire related death or injury.
Fire doors are designed to be closed. This ensures that fires are contained as soon as they break out, minimising the spread and the damage they can cause.
Fire doors must also be easily accessible, allowing your staff an easy exit route out of the building wherever they may be.
Your Property
As you will remember from your science classes back in school, fire feeds off oxygen, so the more of it, the bigger the fire.
This means isolating rooms and preventing the flow of oxygen is vital when aiming to stop it from spreading.
Compartmentalisation is a crucial element of fire safety strategy, with fire doors playing an enormous role within it, controlling the speed at which the fire moves through your property.
Here at Vigor, our FD30 fire doors are designed to do this for up to 30 minutes.
A FD30 can provide a vital window of time, both for people to escape and for the fire brigade to get on top of the blaze before it gets out of hand.
If you want to learn more about our FD30 doors, click here click here
Act Now
Fire safety is of enormous importance, and it’s your legal responsibility to make sure your employees, occupants and property are correctly protected by installing fire doors and other fire safety measures.
We specialise in manufacturing bespoke fire doors that protect your people and your property. Get in touch with one of our expert team members on 01642 265 034 or drop us a line at info@vigordoors.com to learn more
