What are Life Safety equipment?
Life Safety equipment are tools that warn us, minimizes property damage, prevents causalities, provides clear evacuation directions and keeps us safe. Some examples of life safety equipment are exit signs, emergency lights, flood lights, fire evacuation maps, sprinkler heads, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and fire alarm pull stations. The Connecticut fire death rate in 2008 was 8.9 deaths per capita. Cooking caused nearly 90% of all kitchen fires. The primary factor in the ignition of these fires was unattended equipment, and the leading type of material first ignited was oil, fat, or grease. Fifty-one percent of civilian fire fatalities in residential buildings occur between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. This period also accounts for 49 percent of fatal fires. Statistics found: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/statistics/
Some Life Safety Damages:
Broken exit signs Damage emergency lights Missing and/or tampered fire evacuation maps Sprinkler head discharges due to causes other than fire Missing and/or tampered fire extinguishers and smoke detectors Tampered fire alarm
Effects of Damages to Life Safety Equipment:
During an actual fire, if a sprinkler head or smoke detector is covered/ damaged the notification to get out will be delayed. With out proper signage of fire evacuations maps a person may not be familiar to exit thru the 1st floor verses the ground floor. In a fire, there can be a lot of smoke. Damaged exit signs are not able to illuminate through thick smoke and does not fulfill its purpose to give clear directions.
How to Use a Fire Extinguisher
P: Pull the Pin A: Aim extinguisher nozzle at the base of the flame S: Squeeze trigger while holding the extinguisher upright S: Sweep the extinguisher from side to side, covering the area.