As a hotel manager it’s your responsibility to ensure the welfare of your guests. And yet, a surprising number of hotel managers don’t have a sound grasp on fire prevention or how to minimize the risk and damage should a fire occur.
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at practices hotel managers can incorporate to address both of the above fire related concerns: prevention tools like fire sprinkler inspections and fire alarm design, and emergency readiness measures like planning and training.
Fire Prevention
It’s no secret that taking steps to prevent a fire reduce the likelihood of one occurring. And even if one does, the steps you take will help contain it and reduce its risk to human life and the total damages that result. The simplest steps you can take to protect your hotel from a fire are:
- Installing fire alarms in every room
- Investing in self-closing doors in stairwells. This can help prevent smoke, heat, and fire from traveling between floors.
- Scheduling regular fire alarm and fire sprinkler inspections to ensure that your equipment is in working order.
- Maintaining hallways and stairwells so they’re free of any obstructions that might make it difficult for guests to exit the building.
- Following all safety regulations in your hotel’s kitchen. Kitchens are by and large the source of these fires, and not just in hotels. In fact, in medical facilities, 55% of fires begin as confined cooking fires.
Fire Readiness
Of course, taking steps to reduce the risk of a fire is only one part of protecting your hotel. Knowing how to properly handle a real fire emergency is essential for the safety of your guests and your property. Typical steps you can take to improve your fire readiness include:
- Developing a cohesive plan of action with fire safety professionals that you’ll follow in the event of a fire.
- Training your employees on how to react to a wide number of fire emergencies. While you cannot determine where a fire might begin, you can prepare for the most likely scenarios.
- Identifying potential hazards that might delay guests in their escape from a fire and working to find solutions to such problems.
Any hotel owner knows the importance of safety. That’s why you should approach your fire safety plan in this two part manner. First, by making sure you have the best possible fire alarms and regularly performing fire sprinkler inspections, and second by having a clear plan of action should a fire break out. Once you have these two things covered, you should be prepared to minimize injuries and property damage.
