With all the opportunity and excitement of university life, fire safety might not be at the top of your agenda. However, taking a few moments to read our simple tips for keeping fire safe, might just be one of the most important things you do.
Cooking
Don’t leave cooking unattended and take extra care when frying with oil. Always open the windows when cooking and turn on the extractor fan where one is provided. Been drinking alcohol and feel tipsy or drunk? Don’t cook – especially late at night. If you want to avoid accidental alarms, don’t be tempted to cover a smoke detector as this can activate them instead.
Electrical Items
Don’t overload plug sockets and switch off electrical equipment such as chargers, hair straighteners and hair dryers when not in use. Think about where you leave your laptop – hard surfaces like tables are best as they can overheat if left on a bed. Remember to unplug power banks and vapes from their chargers when you go out. The lithium-ion batteries in items like this can catch fire or explode if they are overcharged.
Know your escape route
It’s really important to know your escape route if you have to get out in an emergency. Familiarise yourself with the fire evacuation information in your residence and where your nearest fire assembly point outside is located.
Keep fire doors closed
A closed fire door can hold fire in a room for up to 30 minutes, providing vital time to sound the alarm and evacuate safely. Always remove props or obstructions if you find a fire door wedged open or blocked. Fire doors stop the spread of fire and toxic smoke, plus, it’s a legal requirement to keep them closed.
Avoid accidental fire alarm activations
Help prevent accidental fire alarms by:
- Keeping fire doors shut and turning the extractor fan on when you shower
- Opening the windows and using the extractor fan when cooking
- Using hairdryers, hair straighteners, aerosol sprays (e.g. deodorant, hairspray, etc.) and talcum powder well away from smoke detectors
If you think you’ve accidentally set off the fire alarm, you must evacuate the building in the normal way as you don’t know what might be happening elsewhere in the building. However, please immediately tell a member of staff that this may be a false alarm.
What you should do if you discover a fire
- Sound the alarm
- Evacuate the building
- Call the Fire Brigade on 999, giving them the address of where the fire is, including the postcode
- Notify Estate Patrol on 01392 723999. Top tip – save their number into your phone.
Find more information about fire and building safety on the website. Everyone has a part to play in keeping their residence safe from fire, so following these simple tips will help to keep you and others safe.