Fire safety is an extremely important part of every organisation and must be taken seriously at all times, otherwise you run the risk of punishment, serious injury and even death. Unfortunately, fire safety breaches are still frequent as many businesses fail to comply with regulations either to cut costs or simply because they are unaware of the requirements.
A waking watch service can help a number of organisations in different situations so that they can effectively prevent fire incidents getting out of hand. Let’s take a look at what these are.
Firstly, What Is A Waking Watch?
A Waking Watch provides you with 24-hour surveillance and monitoring of a building to keep all occupants within it safe from fire hazards. Waking Watch patrols are there to quickly alert fire services and sound a fire alarm, and will regularly monitor the site for potential hazards and provide ongoing reports on these.
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Large Residential Buildings or Hotels
If you own or are part of a business that owns high-occupancy buildings such as residential apartment blocks or hotels, then a Waking Watch is one of the most effective ways to ensure that hazards are dealt with and all residents safe.
Highly trained fire marshals are able to stay on top of common potential risks in these sorts of buildings, such as electrical use and socket overloading, cooker use, and more. As there are many occupants all in separate rooms and areas of the building, another important element of a Waking Watch is that the evacuation process can begin immediately, minimising the risk of injury and death.
Temporary Structures and Sites
Sites that are only temporary or are not going to remain in their current state are less likely to have comprehensive fire systems in place. Construction sites for example may struggle to implement an effective alarm system as the site continuously changes, yet is still a high fire risk.
A Waking Watch enables these high risk sites to still have a fire safety strategy in place as marshals can adapt to new changes easily, detect risks, and effectively alert everybody onsite should an incident occur.
Commercial Buildings Without A Functioning Fire System
All commercial buildings, especially larger ones, will need to have an extensive fire safety system and strategy in place at all times. It is the only way to make sure that it is a safe working space.
However, in certain circumstances it may be that your building doesn’t have a functioning fire system – perhaps it is broken and you’re waiting for a new installation, or perhaps you have recently moved into a new building and there is no fire safety infrastructure in place.
Although it can be tempting to ‘ignore’ these periods in order to avoid additional costs, it’s important that you remember the significant risks that fires and failure of fire safety compliance brings for your business. A Waking Watch service can easily cover your premises and keep everybody safe during these times.
If Your Fire Safety Has Failed Before
If you have failed fire safety precautions before, including AOV Inspections, you may be required to have a Waking Watch in place. In the incidence of serious fire safety failings, you might have your fire safety strategy changed from stay put to simultaneous evacuation.
If this has happened to your business or organisation, you will need to provide additional fire safety measures to show that your site is actually safe for staff, residents, or customers. Often, a Waking Watch will be sufficient in order to provide the necessary levels of fire safety.
There are many situations in which a Waking Watch will help your site to become safer, and in some instances it might be one of the only viable options to protect your business, staff, residents, and customers.
If you’d like to learn more about a Waking Watch for your building, get in touch with us for a free quote today using the button below.