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As Emergency Compliant Consultants, we are an ally for commercial real estate owners
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OSHA Regulations for Safety Lighting
Is your business equipped with emergency lighting fixtures and exit signs that meet all OSHA safety regulations? Give Life Safety Service and Supply a call. We offer free inspections and can advise you on what you need to be properly protected. We have the lighting products you need when the power goes out. We want to make sure we help you do the things that keep your employees and your customers safe by avoiding potential hazards. Proper Emercy lighting will not only lead your employees to safety but will help first repsonders to get to the root of the problem quicker and safer. From battery packs to emergency lighting fixtures themselves, we have all your emergency lighting supply needs covered.
Don’t Wait Until It Is Too Late
How many times have you walked past the fire extinguisher at work? Do you know where they are located? Do you have any at all? Just as importantly, do your employees know where they are and how to use them?
It may be time to review your fire extinguishers and make sure they are up to code. It is one of those things that more than often, gets overlooked in the course of a busy day doing business. This this case it really is a matter of life and death.
Life Safety Service and Supply located in Cheshire CT, is your resource for the knowledge that can keep your business code compliant and safe.
Who is Life Safety?
Knowing who is behind a company is just as important as the product or service that it provides. We want you to be confident that there is experience and knowledge behind everything we do here at Life Safety Service and Supply
Drew Marchetti, founder and president of Life Safety Service & Supply, has more than 30 years of experience in this business. Prior to starting his company in 1997, Drew worked in sales and service with two leading emergency lighting equipment manufacturers.
Our field serv
ice technicians also offer customers years of experience—a total of more than 60 years of service and expertise in this specialized and critical life safety equipment business.
“Our knowledgeable staff is available to answer calls promptly and work closely with clients in commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities. We are ready to visit your facility to assess your emergency lighting, fire extinguishers and recommend solutions to insure maximum safety with optimal cost effectiveness.” – Drew Marchetti
The Importance of Emergency Lighting
Emergency lighting and exit signs are a must for commercial buildings, big and small. Certainly there are economic factors that come into play when businesses decide how to best implement emergency lighting and signs.
As mentioned, a lot of this is mandatory. OSHA regulates things like emergency lighting in commercial buildings. For example, exit signs must be located in an area that highlights an unobstructed exit from the building.
We should all know why emergency lighting is needed. It starts with safety. If there is a power outage, stairwells still need to remain passible, if possible. Emergency lighting in stairwells and hallways can calm nerves during a power outage. More importantly, emergency lighting should illuminate those areas during an actual emergency, making it easier for people to evacuate the building. This is another reason emergency exit signs should be internally or externally illuminated. The latter means the sign’s light source is contained outside of the device. It’s often incandescent or florescent lighting. Internal illumination means the sign’s lighting is contained inside the actual sign.
Emergency lighting is also valuable to fire crews and search & rescue teams called to the scene during an emergency such as a fire.
Many commercial buildings have emergency lighting and signs from different companies and manufacturers. This can mean different voltage chargers, lamps, batteries and other parts. There is a lack of consistency. Plus, who is testing and maintaining this equipment?
This is where Life Safety Service & Supply can help. A service contract with Life Safety Service and Supply</a> means removing some of the confusion over who is handling all the emergency lighting and exit signs. Life Safety Service and Supply will handle all of the emergency lighting equipment for your commercial building and do so at an affordable price. The price of safety is never too high.
Wet Chemical Kitchen Hood Fire Suppression Systems
UL300 requires the use of wet chemical kitchen hood fire suppression systems and not the old dry systems. This has become an issue in our industry because most dry chemical systems cannot receive code-required hydro-testing. Another factor here: dry chemical systems are no longer in production, therefore parts and service are not available.
To fully comply with UL300, we recommend that you replace any old dry chemical systems with the new wet chemical kitchen hood fire suppression systems.
WHY ITS IMPORTANT TO USE AN AUTHORIZED SERVICE CENTER (ASC) FOR YOUR EMERGENCY LIGHTING INSPECTIONS AND REPAIRs
It goes without saying that it’s important to use an ASC who is properly factory trained and who can install the correct factory OEM parts or batteries. Let’s list the consequences of NOT using an ASC or OEM parts for this important task:
Use of non-OEM parts or batteries will:
-violate the UL924 Life Safety Code
-void the products UL listing
-void the products warranty
-produce a possible dangerous situation for an untrained technician
-create a potential situation where the product is unreliable or fails
As facility / EHS managers, we need to do everything we can to ensure that all our Emergency egress lighting and exits are fully operational and code compliant. Using an Authorized Service Center is a very important part of this effort.
You wouldn’t bring your Chevy to a Ford dealer for repair, would you?
What to Do If a Fire Starts in Your Workplace
The last thing any employee wants to thing about is a fire in their building. However, fires are a hazard you cannot ignore and instead of hoping for the best, prepare for the worst. The more your staff is educated on what to do in case of a fire the better chance everyone has at escaping the building and surviving. Here are some quick tips on what to do if a fire should start in your building.
Have a Plan: Nothing is more dangerous than not having an emergency plan in place for dealing with a fire. At the first sign of smoke and fire people begin to panic and if they don’t have a safety plan memorized this will lead to confusion and bad decisions. As the manager of your office it is up to you to put a safety plan in place, have your employees learn it and practice safety drills to ensure everyone knows what to do at the first sign of smoke.
Stay Calm: It may sound idealistic but staying calm is the most important part of escaping a fire. The smell of smoke and the sight of fire can cause panic in just about anyone but panicking will not help the situation. If employees are starting to panic do your best to calm them down, ensure them it is going to be alright and help them along as you use the escape routes.
Identify Escape Routes: As part of your safety plan, have clearly marked escape routes. This should include clear paths to exits and emergency lighting indicating where employees can safely leave the building. Avoid elevators and escalators since it is very easy for these systems to shut down during a fire and leave you stranded in a precarious position. Always check your escape routes and make sure nothing is blocking the path. Boxes, equipment and file cases can impede a person’s escape and lead to stampedes that could cause serious injury.
Have a Working Fire Extinguisher: As you prepare to exit the building, someone should be designated to grab the fire extinguisher and lead the way. Every office needs to have a compliant fire extinguisher on the premises and someone who knows how to use it. This person is best suited to help guide people out of harm’s way and use the extinguisher to suppress flames that could block an exit route.
Call 911 and Evacuate: If you are in charge of the fire safety plan remember to call 911 and report the fire giving the operator as much information as possible. When the call is finished scan the office and make sure everyone has exited. Gather your staff in designated areas and begin evacuating the building in a calm and orderly fashion to avoid running and people being knocked over.
Fire Extinguisher Locations
Winter is always a good time of year to remind people of the importance of putting fire extinguishers in home and businesses. Yet, as important as it is to have extinguishers, it’s also very important to know where those extinguishers should be placed in the home.
Let’s start with a little common sense when it comes to home fire prevention. The extinguishers should be placed in areas that are accessible within seconds. Place them in easy-to-grab spots, near exits.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends having at least one fire extinguisher on every floor of the home.
The first location should be the kitchen. More than half of all fires in the home begin in the kitchen. In fact, the U.S. Fire Administration says kitchens are the place where fires most often start in a home. If a fire extinguisher is easily available, most grease fires can quickly be contained. However, not where not to put the fire extinguisher is also important. Do not store the extinguisher near a stove or oven. Keep it near a door near the kitchen. This should keep it away from danger areas while also making it easily accessible.
Many home fires happen during the overnight hours. This is why the master bedroom is a good place to store a fire extinguisher.
If your home has a garage, large or small, make sure a fire extinguisher is kept there and is easily accessible. In addition to housing our cars, a garage is often used as a storage facility. It is not uncommon for paints and building materials to be left in a garage without giving it a second thought. These things can spark a fire. The best location to mount a fire extinguisher in the garage is near the door.
Fire extinguishers in business locations are also vital. Life Safety Service & Supply has experienced service technicians who work with building owners to ensure fire extinguishers are in the proper locations and are up to code.