By Jay Canzonier, Employee Housing Specialist, Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development
Are your resident employees prepared for fire? Are you?
Having an emergency plan and proper fire safety equipment in your farm-provided employee housing can save lives. The risk of fire in a dwelling occupied by multiple people in an unfamiliar setting, combined with the complexity of residents working multiple shifts, sharing cooking facilities and maintenance responsibilities, increases the need to plan and prepare for fire emergencies. You can greatly reduce risk by breaking fire safety into these five integral parts:
Awareness: What is your risk, your readiness, and your plan in the event of a fire?
Educate residents on what could potentially start a fire, and the dangers involved with a fire.
Communicate what to do in the event of an emergency, there should be no delay when calling for help.
Provide emergency contact information, post 911 and other important numbers in visible locations.
Post 911 address inside dwelling, and outside in a location visible from street.
Identify at least two exit points from each room.
Keep all hallways and exit routes clear.
Maintain a list of all occupants for accountability in the event of a fire.
Prevention: What do you do to minimize the probability and impact of a fire? What don’t you do?
Never leave cooking unattended.
Always dispose of smoking materials (including cigarettes) properly. Or don’t smoke inside house.
Avoid using portable space heaters. Clean heating appliances, chimneys, oven, and dryer vents regularly.
Ensure that all appliances and extension cords are UL listed. Avoid using power strips and multi-outlet to single plug adapters.
Do not charge Ebikes indoors.
Detection: Do you have properly installed, operational smoke alarms and carbon monoxide sensors?
Discuss the importance of alarms with residents.
Familiarize residents with basic operation and what to do if an accidental alarm sounds.
When possible, use 10-year sealed battery detectors to alleviate tampering.
Check your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors at least twice a year.
Recommendations for type and placement of alarms and sensors are listed below.
Alarm: Do your residents know what to do if alarm system sounds? Do they have a plan and have they practiced it?
Carefully check for fire and smoke. Pay attention to smells and check each door for high temperatures with the back of a hand before opening it.
If there is smoke, cover nose and mouth with a cloth and keep close to the ground while evacuating.
Have an escape plan, and a designated meeting place.
If fire isn’t found, have a knowledgeable person check the batteries in the smoke alarms.
If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, evacuate the building and call 911.
Suppression: Have you supplied your residents with properly rated fire extinguishers or installed a sprinkler system?
Fire extinguishers should be provided and stored in a readily accessible location not more than 100 feet from each housing unit. Fire extinguishers must provide protection equal to a 2 1/2-gallon stored pressure water extinguisher or a 5 Lb. Type ABC extinguisher.
Discuss what conditions would be safe to suppress a fire, and what conditions warrant immediate evacuation.
Demonstrate proper use of fire extinguisher.
Pull pin.
Aim nozzle at base of fire.
Squeeze handle to discharge contents.
Sweep stream to cover burning material completely.
Smoke Alarms are the first step in a fire escape plan.
Smoke spreads fast, properly selected, located, and maintained smoke alarms give residents an early warning so they can get out quickly. The following recommendations for placement and types of smoke alarms are based on the most recent requirements from New York State Uniform Fire and Building Code.
Smoke alarms should be located:
On the ceiling or wall outside each separate sleeping area or bedroom. (If within 10 feet of each door, can be combined CO detector)
In each room used for sleeping purposes. (bedrooms)
In each story within a dwelling unit, including basements.
Keep smoke alarms away from the kitchen to reduce false alarms. They should be at least 10 feet from the stove.
Smoke alarms should not be installed less than 3 feet horizontally from the door or opening of a bathroom that contains a bathtub or a shower.
Carbon Monoxide (CO) detectors:
One carbon monoxide detector on each floor containing a fuel burning appliance.
At least 1 on each story that contains a sleeping area or bedroom.
More than 1 should be installed to ensure no sleeping area is more than 10’ from a carbon monoxide detector.
A carbon monoxide detector should be installed in each sleeping area that contains a carbon monoxide sou