Basic Guide For Hotel Fire Regulations

What are some hotel fire regulations?

1. Perform a Fire Risk Assessment
2. Train Your Staff and Inform Your Guests
3. Install Reliable Fire Detection and Alarm Systems
4. Map Fire Routes
5. Establish a Fire Evacuation Strategy

There has been a growing use of functional and complex fire exit alarm systems in the hotel industry. Some alarm systems may often be invaluable and unreliable for many entrances and emergency exits. However, do not fret, there are options to tailor fit a system to accommodate the needs of the hotel. To do this, you must be informed of the basic guidelines. From performing a fire risk assessment to establishing evacuation strategies applicable to the layout of the building, here are some of them explained.

Perform a Fire Risk Assessment

This step-by-step fire risk assessment is your key to improving evacuation guidelines for the safety of everyone in your hotel premises. From initially identifying the hazards to reassessing risks, testing new measures, and applying them. Here are the basic steps for assessing risks that you can perform yourself.

• Identify the hazards

Think of the ways a fire could start. It could be open or faulty wiring, damaged and outdated equipment, as well as kindling sources like papers, fabrics, and flammable chemicals. By identifying hazardous objects, you will be able to determine how to secure them.

• Take note of who and what is at risk

In a time of crisis, you must treat everyone in your establishment equally. A life is a life, regardless of whether the person is your staff or a guest. You must bring your staff into safety as much as you would if it were your guests. While you obtain this mindset, of course, you have to consider that your guests might not be as familiar with the ins and outs of the building. Exercise your deduction skills and weigh the situation carefully.

• Determine key measures to apply

Determining the key measures heavily depends on the first two steps: hazardous objects and the people who are put at risk. By learning the two factors, you can determine if you need extra personnel to do random spot checks every now and then to ensure the safety of use.

• Record your findings and possible changes

Records will allow you to keep track of the processes that you have done. It will also help you recognize what needs to be improved. Records enable you to backtrack and assess the measures you performed that worked and failed.

• Evaluate and update

Spot checks should be done once in a while. There will always be a need to reassess risks, reapply measures, and record them down. Hotels wear down over time, which suggests that old hazards are bound to reappear and new ones could transpire.

Train Your Staff and Inform Your Guests

Ensure your employees know what to do if the alarm sounds off. Subject them to extensive fire prevention training. They should be able to develop a sense of responsibility and care for their co-employees as well as the guests. Moreover, they must learn how to be keen on spotting and quick in reporting issues.

Posting signages and informational posters around areas in the hotel where guests will be able to read it. You may also opt to give guests an initial briefing once they check-in. Staff, including bell boys, must be able to reiterate evacuation procedures as guests enter their hotel rooms.

Install Reliable Fire Detection and Alarm Systems

Hotels and other establishments must have fire detection and alarm systems with call points in locations susceptible to fire. Call points must be located near areas wherein staff or guests have easy reach for activation in the case of fire. Smoke detectors should also be working efficiently. You must have all smoke detectors professionally checked at least once a month. Apart from the smoke detectors, you must have your alarms tested once a week. The recommended placement of alarms should be located where even a sleeping guest will wake up to the sound of it.

Map Fire Routes

If you have a fire route or escape routes already planned out, you must ask yourself the last time you had it tested. To ensure the safety of your guests and staff, you must subject your fire routes to regular testing. Escape routes must enable anyone to leave the building or move away from the source of the fire, despite the fire blocks.

To ensure safety of your guests and staff, remember these two points to check out. First, check the materials used for the construction of the building. Are they fire and smoke resistant materials? Can they contain the fire and prevent it from spreading from one area to another? Second, have you installed readable emergency signs and lighting?

Establish a Fire Evacuation Strategy

Evacuation strategies are not one-size-fits-all templates. You will need an evacuation strategy tailor-fit to your hotel. It should focus on complex parts of the building structure. Take a look at your building layout and consider all points of entryways to ensure that all possible exits can be used in the case of a fire incident. There are two evacuation strategies that you could consider utilizing.

• Simultaneous evacuation

For smaller hotels with simple building layouts, the simultaneous evacuation strategy will work well. The alarm used in this kind of strategy can effectively alert every single room and floor, including the basement. The alarm will sound off and alert all corners of the building at once, which will prompt staff and guests to evacuate immediately. Typically during emergency situations, 50 to 75 decibels at most are loud enough for everyone to be alerted.

• Vertical or horizontal phased evacuation

For medium to large-sized hotels that accommodate a large number of guests, the vertical or horizontal phased evacuation will suffice. It will address the need to evacuate people in areas at immediate risk before the others. In addition to that, hotels with multiple floors and a more complex building layout will require an in-depth evacuation plan. A simultaneous kind of strategy may not be able to do this.

Key Takeaway

Poor fire exit alarm systems put hotel guests and staff in grave danger. Systems that are not tailored to fit the floor layout of the building might not be sufficient in alarming or informing each floor of a fire incident. With that, performing self-assessment or having professionals inspect your premises is necessary for implementing the right system. Take note, investing in a suitable fire detection and alarm systems will save your hotel reputation in the case of any hazardous situation.