Hands up, who’s had some sort of fire training at work? Quite a few. Now, put your hands down if you’ve taken what you’ve learned and made some fire safety improvements at home. Wow, that’s a lot of hands still up, but why? Is it because we are under the impression our homes are safe enough from fire or are we burying our heads in the sand with “it won’t happen to us” mentality?

The more I think about it the more baffling it does seem. For the vast majority of us, if not all, family comes first. So why do we find it normal to talk about and adhere to fire safety in the workplace but not to discuss it at home with our loved ones? Maybe it’s because we think there’s more chance of a fire incident in the workplace, however data shows that 71% of all building fires in 2019/20 and 82% of all fire related fatalities were dwellings based incidents.

I am not saying that any less attention should be given to workplace fire safety, far from it but we should definitely be giving more thought to our safety at home. In an age where electrical devices are becoming more and more common across all ages of in our households, in a time where most things seem to come with a charger we could take some of that fire safety knowledge we’re learnt at work and apply it in the home.

Lets keep our families, property and belongings safe.

Here are a few Home Safety Tips from UK Fire Training

Means of escape – openly discuss with the family what you should do in the event of fire at home. Have a Plan B in case the route to your usual means of escape are blocked.

Smoke Alarms – Make sure you have smoke alarms and they are installed in the right places. On a ceiling in hallways and outside bedrooms and not in kitchens or bathrooms. Regularly check the batteries in your smoke alarm are working.

Plugs – Don’t overload plug sockets. Unplug and turn off chargers and other electrical items when not in use and check for broken sockets and wires.

Candles – Ensure candles are kept away from materials such as curtains. Don’t leave candles unattended.