Fire safety and protection should be taken seriously by everyone, no matter what type of building they’re in. Any property has the potential to see a fire ignite and therefore any property could get seriously damaged.
There’s an abundance of fire related products on the market but one of the best, and most crucial is the fire door. As part of having fire doors, you must do your due diligence and inspect them regularly to ensure they’re in good condition and performing the vital functions they need to.
In this blog, we delve into the significance of fire door inspections, shedding light on why they are indispensable for the safety and well-being of occupants in any building.
Key points covered in this blog include;-
- What fire doors do and their purpose
- The importance of regular fire door inspections
- Ensuring compliance with latest regulations
- Protecting your assets and property
- And much more!
If you’re looking for a without-charge quotation from Absolute Health Fire Safety for fire risk assessments, please call us today at 0113 418 2911 or use our online contact form.
Fire Doors & Their Purpose
Fire doors are manufactured specifically with one job and that’s to withstand the threat that fire, smoke and toxic gases can bring. This allows precious time for people to escape the building and evacuate safely. These doors are equipped with fire-resistant materials, seals, and self-closing mechanisms, forming a crucial barrier in what can be pretty desperate times. The job that a fire door can do to protect someone for enough time cannot be underestimated. This makes it so important to ensure these doors are in good working order at all times.
Importance Of Fire Door Inspections
While fire doors are engineered to withstand the pressures of a fire, they require regular inspections to ensure that they remain fully functional. Over time, wear and tear, exposure to the elements, constant use and changes in the building structure can compromise the integrity of fire doors.
Hinges may weaken, door panels may get scratches or cuts, glass may crack, seals may become leaky and many other things. For this reason alone it’s vital to maintain regular inspections of your fire door. If you are doing the checks then feel free to check out one of our latest blogs that goes into detail about what to look for.
Regular inspections are essential to identify and address issues promptly, preserving the effectiveness of these doors in the event of a fire. Fire door inspections are also paramount for the following reasons:
Staying compliant with latest regulations: Undertaking a fire door inspection regularly will mean you are able to flag any issues quickly. This ensures you’re remaining compliant with rules, regulations and laws. Neglecting these inspections not only puts lives at risk but can also lead to legal consequences, fines, and potential liability issues for building owners and managers.
These are certainly some issues you want to avoid. Obvious issues that could cost you compliance are broken smoke and fire seals around the door, chipped door panels, cracked glass, no signage and other things.
Protecting property and assets: In addition to safeguarding lives, fire doors also play a crucial role in protecting property and assets. Many businesses cannot survive the financial repercussions of a fire as it can have a devastating effect on essentially wiping out areas of a building and everything in it.
Fire doors act as the fire line of defence against fire and can minimise damage massively. For this to happen however, you need to make sure the fire door is working effectively and doing regular maintenance inspections can be a good way of monitoring this. Regular inspections help identify and rectify issues that could compromise the integrity of fire doors.
Preventing the spread of smoke and gas: In a similar sense to the point before, by keeping on top of your fire door inspections you will ensure its performance is top class. Fire doors prevent the spreading of smoke and toxic gases for a good while when a fire appears.
Smoke inhalation is a leading cause of fire-related fatalities, and fire doors play a pivotal role in containing and limiting its reach. You can prevent a smoke or gas leak by checking your fire doors on a regular basis. Don’t neglect the safety of the people and assets in your building.
Ensuring maximum operation and functionality: You may get a professional fire risk assessment company, like AHFS, to come in once a year to properly look at your fire doors, but it’s likely that the rest of the time, you will be doing them yourself. One of the main responsibilities when you’re doing the inspections yourself, is to look for proper functionality.
Regular inspections focus on the functional aspects of fire doors, including the proper operation of self-closing mechanisms, latching systems, seals and more. Clear signs of any of these not working properly means you should alert a professional and you’ll have done your job brilliantly.
Contact Us Today
The main goal here is to protect every single person within a building as well as assets from fire. If a fire were to break out, then every single second counts and every single fire door needs to be functioning right in order to do its job. Fire doors offer valuable time for someone to escape and evacuate a building safely.
Regular fire door inspections underpin the importance of the role that a fire door can play in desperate situations so we urge you all to keep doing your checks and consult the experience of a professional if you need to.
We are Absolute Health Fire Safety and we’re here for all your fire door, fire risk assessment and fire safety training needs. We’ve been in the industry for years and have worked on some incredible buildings since our inception. If you’d like to chat about how to do your fire door checks or would like a second opinion on some issues, please get in touch with us.
Looking for more information and to discuss your bespoke fire risk assessments requirements? Call us today at 0113 418 2911 or use our online contact form.