Fire Safety for Hotel Buildings

Fire safety is of utmost importance when it comes to the hotel industry because a fire puts dozens of people’s lives at risk and can damage your business irreparably if it breaks out in your hotel. According to a survey, one out of every 12 hotels report a horrible fire within their building every year that adds to thousands of fires in motels and hotels on yearly basis.
Fire safety in hotel industry is crucial in preventing fires, and fire safety measures must be taken in hotels to protect guests from potential danger. The hospitality industry, such as hotels have to comply with health and safety regulations.
In this article, we will explain safety measures of the hotel industry and how they can prevent accidents and damages if any fire occurs.
Identifying and correcting these six issues will help ensure the safety of your guests and property in case of a fire emergency.

Test Alarms and Conduct Fire Drills

Fire alarms often are considered the most critical element of a hotel’s safety system. When an alarm sounds, the occupants immediately know a potential danger exists and evacuation is necessary. Hotel management should have employees conduct regular tests of the fire alarm system. When testing the alarms, it is recommended you also conduct a fire drill.
Hotel managers should conduct quarterly fire drills for staff as part of the company’s emergency action plan. These drills allow employees to practice evacuating the building and show areas in the plan that might need improving.

Communicate Your Emergency Action Plan

Hotel management must provide written emergency action plans for employees to ensure everyone knows the exit routes and what fire emergency procedures are in place. Emergency action plans should cover designated actions employers and employees need to take to ensure their safety during fire emergencies. Management needs to ensure all employees understand fire-suppression procedures and escape routes to be followed by each location in the hotel. Evacuation route signs also need to be posted by the door in each guestroom.
Management must review the emergency action plan with each employee at certain times, including when the plan is developed, when an employee’s responsibilities change and when the plan changes.

Keep Fire Extinguishers at Hotel Buildings

Every hotel should have fire extinguishers rated class A, B and C, capable of putting out small fires involving wood, paper, oils and gases, in its hallways, rooms, and lobby areas and they should be easily accessible to guests inside the rooms as hotel fire is one of the biggest threats to the industry.
Make sure your fire extinguishers are at the proper weight or gauge limit. This information can be found on the label located on the side of the extinguisher. Replace or recharge your extinguishers if they are not at the required levels and after every use.

Maintain Exit Signs

Maintain the exit lights in hotel. During a fire, conditions can be chaotic and confusing. Smoke can obscure vision and make it difficult to navigate your surroundings. Illuminated exit signs make it more likely people will be able to see where to go and get out of the building.
Exit signs are designed to switch to emergency power when they no longer receive electricity. These lighted signs need regular testing by the hotel management to ensure proper operation.

Fire Sprinkler System

Functional fire sprinklers are just as important as properly charged fire extinguishers. Fire sprinklers can contain fires and prevent them from spreading to other parts of the hotel. For this reason, hotel managers need to get in touch with their fire protection providers to verify that all fire sprinklers are working and don’t need to be repaired.

Hold Regular Inspections

A hotel should have its lights, alarms, extinguishers and sprinklers inspected every year. Many hotels neglect their annual services. Neglecting your fire-safety system can cause the equipment to erode over time resulting in faulty equipment.

The owner or manager of a hotel is legally responsible for ensuring that adequate systems are in place and that checks are carried out to reduce the risk of fire starting. Day-to-day there are some very simple measures that can be taken to make sure your hotel is fire safe, and to prevent risk to life and property.