Whether your building’s fire alarm system is on the fritz or you need to hire fire watch guards for upcoming hot work, you may not know where to start.
We’ll break down who to call when a fire watch guard is required and what additional steps you need to take to ensure you’re compliant with local fire safety regulations and that your building or site is protected.
General Fire Watch Requirements
As soon as you know that you need to hire a fire watch company to look after your building, you must act swiftly to ensure you get the proper fire watch guards in place.
Upon determination that your fire protection system is rendered inoperable, your local fire department needs to be notified immediately. Once notified, it’s the responsibility of the Fire Code Official to determine the level of protection required and dictate the actions necessary to secure public safety and restoration of the fire alarm system.
If the fire marshal determines that fire watch patrol officers are necessary, it’s then up to you to hire them from a fire watch company, or risk paying additional money should the fire marshal have to supply the guards for you. After contacting the local authorities, your next call should be to a reputable fire watch company to secure properly trained personnel to keep watch over your site.
Once a watch is in place, the guards must always have at least one reliable means for notification to the fire department should there be a threat or danger.
Fire Watch Checklist
As soon as the proper authorities have been called and you begin implementing your fire watch, you must begin following the policies and procedures listed in your fire watch checklist.
Don’t have a checklist yet? Here’s what information you need to gather and put together for your checklist to ensure that emergencies situations are as smooth and safe as possible:
- Contact phone numbers for the local fire department and your preferred fire watch company
- The layout of the building
- Instructions for posting emergency signage
- Instructions for notifying occupants in case of danger (usually a whistle is used)
- Your fire log and instructions for completing it
Finding the Right Fire Watch Company
In your time of need, you must have a dependable company you can turn to deploy trained guards quickly and efficiently. Most certified companies with fire watch guards for hire offer 24/7 service so they’re available to you when you need them the most.
Emergency services will cost more than scheduled services, however, it’s a small price to pay to keep your property and community safe from the threat of fire in the event of your emergency alert system is malfunctioning.
Here are some important factors to keep in mind when you’re hiring a fire patrol company:
- 24/7 availability
- Trained, licensed and certified guards
- Familiarity and compliance with federal and local fire watch requirements
- Adherence to your specific plan of action and training in reporting in the designated fire log
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