Fire!!! One of the serious threats faced by all the individuals and organizations. Having been symbol of civilization and its development, fire turns to be a serious hazard for life and property once it goes out of proportion and control. It looks amazing, how, an item of utility turns into a source of devastation but it is a fact.

Fire can occur irrespective of time and place. Being unexpected always, it can occur at your house, office premises, hospitals, theaters, malls or other public places. To avoid such disaster which can bring any business to a pause, proper fire safety practices should be observed.

The most effective tool for determining fire safety standards at any facility is fire safety audit. Safety audits are carried out so that the lacuna’s can be identified and required steps for improvement can be taken. From developing an action plan, emergency preparedness and mock drills are some of the important steps, necessary for an EHS audit.

It is well said by Peter Drucker “You can’t manage what you can’t measure”.

Measuring is important part of ‘Plan-Do-Check-Act’ management process. EHS audit is as much part of a health & safety management system as service delivery, financial or production management. Main motto of measuring EHS performance is to provide information on the improvement and current status of the activities, strategies, processes deployed to control health and safety risks.

When we talk particularly about fire safety audit, it is a comprehensive, well-structured and systematic examination which helps an organization to identify all the possible hazards from fire. From components, services, equipment, it provides recommendations for the regulatory compliance as per the existing building codes, rules, standards and regulations.

Fire safety plays an important role in industrial safety audits. It mainly covers –

• Fire safety awareness training for employees
• Emergency exit plan
• Fire safety management
• Fire/Mock drills
• Do’s and don’ts in case of fire
• Ventilation, sprinkler and emergency lighting system
• Equipment’s for fire fighting

Findings of fire safety audit is then published as a report which has some recommendations for any sort of non-compliance identified. The review presented identifies remedial actions as well which plays a key role for decision makers, helping them to organize for improvements. Periodic fire safety audits thus help in preventing loss of property and human lives to a great extent.