Fire extinguishers – do you know your foam from your powder? Why getting it right could save lives!
When it comes to recommending the right fire extinguisher, knowing which type is best for which kind of fire is potentially life-saving. Although the number of fires in the UK has decreased significantly since smoke alarms became commonplace from the 1990s onwards, Fire and rescue services (FRSs) attended around 162,000 fires in England during 2015/16. This is 5% more than the 155,000 attended in 2014/15 (Department for Communities and Local Government’s Fire Statistics report.) From a workplace perspective, retail units, cafes, bars, restaurants and manufacturing sites accounted for many of the 22,000 out of home fires attended by the fire services in 2013-14. These non-residential fires resulted in over 1,000 non-fatal casualties and 17 fatal casualties in 2013-14, making advice on fire safety equipment particularly critical to these end-user groups. The type of extinguisher to use depends on what materials are involved in a fire. With the chief causes of fire includi...