How to Know Your Fire Safety Inspection Technicians Perform Perfectly
No matter what your job is, or how important it is, there is always something lost due to human error. That’s why it’s especially crucial for those of us in the fire safety inspection industry to make sure we strictly follow our inspection requirements.
On average, seven people die every day from a fire in the United States. A mistake or an oversight might cost someone their life, so knowing your technicians are performing their jobs correctly is vital to your company’s success.
So let’s take a look at some of the requirements that are commonly overlooked when fire and life safety inspections are being performed. And more importantly, let’s determine what can we do to make sure our technicians perform perfectly during every inspection.
Test Inspection Requirements That Fly Under the Radar
Our technicians work hard and they’re experts in their field. But even when you’re sending your best technician out for a company’s annual inspection, some things can still slip their mind. Here are some test inspection requirements that are often overlooked on inspection reports.
Altered Fire Safety Equipment
Techs and inspectors are looking for properly functioning fire sprinkler heads, the presence of up-to-date fire extinguishers, and functioning emergency exit jobs on a site. Something they may forget to take into account, however, is altered or modified public and life safety equipment.
Building occupants are not experts in fire code, and we can’t expect them to be. That’s why we exist. So it shouldn’t be a surprise when we see sprinkler systems or fire extinguishers that have been painted over, or in some other way modified to fit a room’s decor. Be sure to pay close attention to every detail; if fire safety equipment has been altered, make note of it and follow procedure.
Clear Path to an Exit
While making sure that a business has proper fire doors for their emergency exit, it’s not uncommon for inspectors to examine the surrounding area less closely. The same is true for unobstructed fire safety equipment like sprinkler heads and fire extinguishers. The National Fire Protection Agency requires strict minimums for clearance of all obstructions around fire safety equipment, fire exits, and other pathways.
Clear paths around exit doors are a crucial matter of public safety, and yet it’s something that has been forgotten by more than one fire safety inspection technician. Make sure to follow the test inspection requirements closely and report any obstructions to paths of exits or safety equipment.
Light Bulbs
A single burnt out bulb is sometimes barely noticeable. Usually, the surrounding bulbs in any area will more or less pick up any slack for the burnt out bulb. However, resources like this can only be stretched so thin.
When a business allows more bulbs to burn out, they’re increasing their chances of a hazard. Especially when the bulbs belong to emergency exit signs, or in pathways that receive no natural light. In an emergency, this can spell serious trouble. That’s why it’s so important for technicians to take careful notice of these sometimes imperceptible deficiencies.
On a small scale, it may seem like a problem that’s hardly worth paying attention to, but any technician worth their salt knows that little problems become big problems fast. And when you’re dealing with fire safety, there’s nothing too insignificant.
How Can We Account for Human Error?
With State of the Art Fire Safety Inspection Software
We might have the best technicians in the world on our team, but that doesn’t mean they’re perfect. And as much as we’d like them to be, there are still so many test inspection requirements that are overlooked. So that’s why we offer help with our state of the art fire inspection software, Inspect Point.
Inspect Point allows your technicians to be perfect by giving inspection technicians the step-by-step inspection process every time they’re in the field. There’s no aspect of your inspection that goes unnoticed when technicians are required to check it off a list. This might be an old idea, but the best part of Inspect Point is that it allows you to have a second set of eyes, so you can always be sure everything is accounted for.
As technicians go through their inspection process, they mark off everything on the Inspect Point app on their mobile device or iPad. Even better, employers can watch the process happening on their end back in the office, so there’s never any question if something is being forgotten. Read our blog about our software that lets you keep an eye on your business with real-time updates.
A Fool-Proof System
We generate questions based on what the NFPA’s fire code requires, and based on what your company needs. Human error is something we can’t get rid of, that’s why we need to take every preventative measure to correct it. Inspect Point is here to help you with that.
Inspect Point allows your technicians to be the best they can be, and it gives your clients peace of mind that there will be no errors in their fire safety inspection. When doing a good job means saving someone’s life, or taking the preventative measures to keep those lives, you want to have the right tools for the job. A business should be able to create and sustain a fluid process for its employees and the software they integrate, so take a look at what Inspect Point has to offer.
