Construction Sites are hazardous areas. Whether your team are working at tall heights or moving heavy objects, construction workers are constantly at risk of injury - and perhaps even death. As an employer, it is incredibly important to do everything you can to keep your staff safe, but keeping a construction site safe is a mammoth task, and it may be hard to know where to start.
We thought it would be helpful to highlight some of the common construction site fire risks and how you can limit them.
Arson
Sadly, arson is one of the common causes of fire on construction sites. These types of attacks don’t always have a clear meaning or reason as to why they happen, and often they can be difficult to prevent. Due to the number of flammable materials on most construction sites, if a fire does break out, it can be extremely costly, both in materials and repairs. There was an arson attack on a timber frame building site in Cardiff Bay, and as the fire was so extreme, the neighbouring houses were also damaged. The gutters on buildings across the street were burned along with curtains which were also charred. This shows how dangerous arson attacks can be on construction sites.
Cooking
Cooking on a construction site should not be permitted at all. Construction workers should leave any cooking items at their homes, such as a grill, hot plate or microwave, no one should be bringing these items in. There are on-site kitchens available, which can be professionally installed instead to avoid potentially dangerous situations. Facilities have to be available for construction workers to prepare and eat food and a way for them to boil water, but it is key to ensure they are provided with safe methods that reduce the risk of a fire breaking out.
Flammable Materials
When working on a construction site, you need to be careful around flammable materials. Fires on construction sites can spread quickly and fiercely due to the building materials stacked and piled around. Some materials, like insulation, chemical solvents, gasoline, fuel oil, kerosene, or linseed oil, could enable a fire to spread fast, with it getting out of control and causing lots of damage. Scaffolding, roof coverings and general waste can also spread fires. So, construction workers have to be very careful not to make any mistakes since it could prove to be incredibly costly. Keeping the site clear of these flammable materials will go a long way to ensuring your construction site is made safe and secure.
Flawed Fire Protection Measures
Over half of all construction site fires are accidental (62.5%). This shows that there is a flaw in fire protection measures, as accidents can be avoided if you are fully trained and have trusted and reliable policies in place. Around 124 construction site fires in England have been caused by the careless handling of fire or other substances. Simply by being careful and sensible, these fires could have been prevented; training can help provide this, ensuring your team is well aware of all the fire dangers. Blocked escape routes present threats to life as well. There must always be at least two routes available for escape at all times.
Power Sources
There are many different power sources on a construction site. Each room contains at least one different type of power sources, such as plug sockets or light switches dotted all around. Electrical systems in buildings, overhead power lines, and underground cables all need to be worked around cautiously so that you avoid any fire risks. Quality control, such as Portable Appliance Testing (PAT), needs to be in place to minimise the risk of a fire too. When not in use, power sockets need to be switched off. Faulty equipment must also be removed from the site immediately.
Which Fire Prevention Systems Work Well For Construction Sites?
In order to deal with arson attempts, security measures work well to prevent potential arsonists from targeting your construction site. Construction Site Security involves Smart Towers, which incorporate all the components needed to provide effective CCTV monitoring. Alert Towers can also be rapidly installed as a stand-alone multi-unit or seamlessly integrated with other construction site security products to provide outstanding protection. When it comes to an actual fire, fire doors, emergency lighting, fire alarms, fire extinguishers, fire risk assessments, and fire alarm monitoring should be in place. This helps keep your construction site safe and minimises the risk of a fire.
How Can You Stop Fires In Your Construction Sites?
At Jackson Fire & Security, we have everything your business needs to keep it safe from potential fires and limit the damage if one does occur. Whether it be fire doors, emergency lighting, fire alarms, fire extinguishers, fire risk assessments, or fire alarm monitoring, we are confident that we can help. Get in touch to find out more about our range of fire safety services!