28

Oct
2013

Routine Fire Extinguisher Inspection

October 28th, 2013 | by Vancouver Fire | in Fire Protection Inspections |    0   

The Importance of Routine Fire Extinguisher Inspections

You know it's important to have a fire extinguisher handy. You also know that if you don't know how to use it, it's useless. Learning to properly mount and use a fire extinguisher is critical to being fire safe in any location. There may not be time to read the instructions and figure out how to work a fire extinguisher when a blaze has broken out. Having the fire extinguisher available and getting it out fast is the most important thing. But all that is moot if you don't have your fire extinguisher inspected on a regular basis.

The good news about most fire extinguishers is that they don't get used very often. You don't want to have to use your fire extinguisher ever, right? But that also means that there's no way to know whether it'll work properly, should the need arise. That's what fire extinguisher inspections are designed to figure out. In the case of a fire, will your fire extinguisher actually work?

Once a year, your fire extinguisher should be inspected by a professional. This will include steps that you don't want to do on your own, and will guarantee that your fire extinguisher remains in good working order.

In addition to the once annual professional inspection, you should get in the habit of doing a visual inspection once a month on your own. Any fire safety equipment should be familiar to you, and the best way to get familiar is to have a look at it once a month and make sure it's ready to be used.

This inspection is simple to do on your own. Make sure you understand how to use the fire extinguisher and review the instructions. Also make sure the mount is appropriate and that if you need to take down it down quickly, you can. Locate the pull pin and tamper seal, to make sure they're in place.

Most likely, you'll find that things remain the same month after month, but you'll be giving yourself familiarity with something that most people don't know enough about.