Checklist: Fire Safety

What do you do when you ask a question, and everyone points the finger the other way? For example, “Hello, Mr. Hospital Safety Coordinator. Can you supply me with the emergency evacuation plan for my department?” Mr. Hospital Safety Coordinator pointed his finger at me and said, "Selendra, that is your responsibility.” What? When faced with these challenges, you have to take matters into your own hands. After my conversation with Mr. Safety, I decided it was up to me to create a safety plan for my department. It’s in the beginning stages, but I wanted to share it with you because we are friends. The list.

The Basics

1. Get the cords off the floor. I had the opportunity to get down on my knees to organize and zip-tie power cords that serpentined below most of the workstations in the department. After knocking off the dust, I felt like I had prevented a fire.
2. Drill. The last time there was a fire announced over the intercom, no one moved. Well, they did move; they just kept working. I thought to myself, "What if there was a dangerous fire moving in our direction?” It’s time for a fire drill.
3. Contact information. Let me tell you a story about a guy named Bill. Well, Bill created a fire safety program for his department. During the fire drill, everyone evacuated the building and rallied at the meeting point. He thought everyone was there, but he wasn’t sure because, during his fire safety planning, he forgot to create a list of updated contact and emergency phone numbers. Little did he know three of his staff members were in the “burning building” eating lunch in the breakroom.
4. Can you see it? Make sure the fire extinguishers are not blocked, and the signs are visible from a distance. Can you imagine running from a fire and, during your sprint, you run right past the extinguisher because it was blocked by a cart filled with vendor trays? Toast!
5. Burn, baby burn. Do you have anything flammable that should be in a fire cabinet? I know there are alcohol bottles stored in the department. How many can you have before you have to store them in a fire cabinet?
6. I can’t hear you. I worked in a department where the intercom was so low that we would only know there was a fire when we smelled the smoke. Is this your department? If so, you have a job to do.
7. Talk about it. Do you have safety discussions during the huddle? Is there a reward system for staff members who call out safety concerns?

Well, let me get out of here. I have a lot of work to do. Good luck to all of my safety warriors.