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With Bonfire Night looming, it is important to ensure that you are being responsible in your celebrations this year and not putting yourself or anyone else at risk of danger. Bonfire Night is a fun, celebratory night where lots of people like to gather with family and friends and enjoy the festivities together. However, it is also a time of year where there are lots of incidents, mostly fire based, and caused by irresponsible or careless behaviour. Around Bonfire Night, people will most typically set off fireworks in their garden or attend a professional display, or some people have a bonfire where they can gather with loved ones, and another traditional feature are sparklers, which can be very dangerous and have bad consequences if not used safely and responsibly. 

As celebrations are likely to commence over the weekend and throughout the next week, we thought we’d share a few tips on how to stay safe and be responsible this Bonfire Night.

Fireworks

Although you should enjoy yourself and have fun on Bonfire Night, you should not sacrifice any safety for this and furthermore you should be aware of how to enjoy the night safely. 

Consider attending a public firework display 

Everybody likes to watch and admire fireworks, however we would really recommend that you attend a professional and controlled display at a public event. This is a much safer alternative to handling fireworks yourself at home. Although they may be fairly simple to set off, you must remember that fireworks are explosives and therefore should be handled with extreme care and caution. 

Unfortunately, each and every year hospitals receive hundreds of patients injured by fireworks, and the majority of these come from private displays, for example fireworks being set off at home in the garden, as opposed to at professional displays. Although we would advise attending a professional display this Bonfire Night, there are still thousands and thousands of people that set off their own fireworks at home every year, and if you intend to do this, you should be aware of the correct safety measures to take. 

Comply to the correct safety measures

Firstly, you should ensure that you are setting fireworks off in a safe environment and that there are no hazards. This might include things nearby that are flammable and could cause a fire to spread quickly. You should also ensure that everyone is a safe distance away when you’re setting off fireworks and that the person in control knows how to set them off properly. 

Furthermore, keep any fireworks that aren’t being set off inside the closed box that you purchased them in. You should not misuse fireworks in any way and when setting them off, keep a safe distance and ensure that they aren’t angled at anything, and once lit, do not go back if one doesn’t set off or falls over as this is incredibly dangerous and could have severe consequences if it were to then explode. Finally, you must also check that any fireworks you buy conform with the British Standards, which should be marked on the box.

Look after people and animals

If you’re setting off fireworks at home, you must be responsible in making sure everyone is safe, including pets. On Bonfire Night you should always keep pets indoors as this is much safer for them and reduces the amount of stress they endure. If there is a large group at your private event, always make sure children aren’t left unattended, everyone else is kept well away from the fireworks when they are being set off, and that the person setting them off is not under the influence.

Sparklers

Sparklers are another favourite on Bonfire Night, especially for children. However, there are of course dangers that come with sparklers, and so you must never leave children unattended with them and always be close by if your child has a sparkler to ensure that they are using them safely and not in any danger.

Fires can start due to a million different reasons, and they are often unpredictable and take us by surprise. Therefore, knowing how to put out a fire safely is very helpful and could even potentially save lives should you ever be in a scenario where you are faced with a fire and able to put it out correctly and without putting yourself at risk. Knowing the basics of how to control a small fire, as well as what types of fire require which methods to extinguish them, will ensure that you are prepared for all situations and stand the best chance of being able to put out the fire successfully and safely. 

So, we thought we would share a few important tips and bits of information on how to put out a small fire safely…

Only attempt to put it out if you are sure of the source

Before you attempt to put out a small fire, it is essential that you know for definite what the source is. Different types of fires require different methods and equipment to put them out. Therefore, if you attempt to put out a fire without knowing what it is caused by, this could be seriously dangerous and make matters worse.

Cutting off oxygen

This is most useful in the kitchen. Sometimes, our kitchen facilities can catch fire when we are cooking something. This could be in a pan for example, and in which case, the fastest and most efficient way to cut off oxygen supply and therefore kill the fire, is to put a lid on the pan. Furthermore, you may be making something in the microwave that bursts into flames. If this happens, we recommend unplugging the microwave immediately and keeping the door shut. This should eventually stop the small fire, however if not, you can open the door and use a fire extinguisher to put it out.

Know how to use an extinguisher

You should make sure that you know how to use a fire extinguisher so that if you are ever in the presence of a small fire, you would be confident to tackle it using the extinguisher safely. Furthermore, if you have small fire extinguishers in your home, you should get these checked every few years to ensure that they are working properly. 

There are four types of fire extinguishers; Class A, B, C and D. Class A is designed for wood and paper, Class B is for liquid substances such as grease and oil, Class C is for electrical fires, and Class D is used on flammable metals. Therefore, you must always know the source of the fire so that you are using the correct and safe fire extinguisher. All extinguishers come with instructions on how to use them correctly, so you should familiarise yourself with this so that you are always prepared and capable of using one. 

Smother with a fire blanket

The most common place you will find fire blankets, are in the kitchen. They are best used for electrical or grease fires, as they cut off oxygen supply and are not flammable. If a small fire starts, you should smother it with the fire blanket so that the flames cannot spread and die out straight away. Furthermore, you can even use fire blankets on people, in the unfortunate event that a person is engulfed.

Call 999

If you feel you cannot control the fire yourself, or if you have attempted to put it out and this has failed or the fire has spread, then you should immediately call 999 and get the fire department to come out and help. Not only this, but if you encounter an electrical fire we would advise immediately calling the fire department to come and put it out instead of attempting it yourself as they can be very hard to control and risky in the methods you use to put it out as this can often make the fire even worse and cause more danger.

Fire safety is extremely important absolutely anywhere and everywhere. No matter where you go, there must always be fire safety precautions in place and solutions in the event of a fire happening. However, in your own home it is slightly different, as this is solely your responsibility. You are in charge of ensuring that you have the right facilities to keep your home safe from fire, and making sure that you are minimising the risk of any fires starting at all. 

Here are a few ways to keep your home safe from fire…

Always have a functioning smoke alarm

Having a smoke alarm fitted in your house, and in fact, in every room of the house, is essential in keeping your home safe. Smoke alarms are there to detect smoke and fire and alert you of this immediately so that you can get to safety. Furthermore, even if you have smoke alarms fitted, you should always be conscious of getting these checked and batteries replaced when necessary so that they are working properly and doing their job.

There is no excuse for not having a smoke alarm. They are cheap to install and could be potentially life saving. If not in every room, you should at least have one on each level of your house so that smoke can be detected as early as possible. It is recommended that you regularly test smoke alarms to ensure that they are working.

Have a fire extinguisher handy

We advise that you have at least one fire extinguisher in your home. You can get small ones that are house-friendly and don’t take up too much space. They are good to have because if a small fire starts, they allow you to put this out immediately and get it under control. As well as this, houses tend to face a significant amount of fires that are caused by electrical appliances, and so of course using water to try and stop this is extremely dangerous and will make matters worse. A fire extinguisher is safe to use on any kind of fire.

Fire blankets in the kitchen

Kitchens are often the place where a lot of house fires start. This is due to the appliances used in there, and if they happen to be used incorrectly or not safely. Therefore, having a fire blanket handy is something that we strongly advise. With a fire blanket, you can extinguish small fires almost immediately. Furthermore, they are safe to us for any type of fire, gas or electrical. They are made up of materials that cut off oxygen supply so that the fire cannot spread and is put out straight away.

Inspect heating sources

Any heating sources in the house can be a factor in the cause of fires, due to the heat transmitted and the exposure. The best way you can prevent any sort of dangers regarding this is to have any heating sources inside your home inspected. We would recommend that you have a professional come and inspect them at least once a year so that you’re staying on top of things and alert of anything unusual or that is posing a threat.

Don’t leave cooking appliances unattended

As we briefly mentioned, the kitchen is the one room in the house where most fires are started. This is due to the cooking appliances and gas and electricals in there. The best way to stay safe and keep yourself and your home protected, is to not leave cooking appliances unattended when preparing food. Furthermore, if you are still in the house but leave to go in another room, you should keep checking back regularly to make sure everything is okay. If cooking appliances are being used and left unattended, this could lead to a fire, and it means that you wouldn’t be there to put it out and stop it from spreading.

Be responsible

Although this is quite broad, being responsible is the best way to keep your home safe from fire. It basically means staying on top of all the things we have mentioned above. Being aware of any fire risks in your home and making sure that these aren’t potentially going to cause danger is the best way you can reduce any chance of fires starting. Furthermore, if a fire was to start, being responsible would mean having things in place, such as smoke alarms and fire extinguishers so that you could get to safety as soon as possible, or put a small fire out yourself if you were capable of doing so. 

For more information and advice about keeping your home safe from fire, simply get in touch with us via our contact page and we will be more than happy to help.

I’m sure over the past few weeks you’ve been receiving tonnes of GDPR emails from companies begging you to stay on their mailing list. Well, there is a good reason for this, and we wanted to tell you a little more about it. The new GDPR came into practice on 25th May 2018 and for us it means that our new website is fully compliant with this and is kitted out with a brand new privacy policy, cookies, and terms of service.

So, here’s all you need to know about GDPR, what it means for small businesses, and how we’re progressing with it here at Safe & Sound Fire Limited.

What is it?

GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation, and this is a law within the EU that ensures data protection and privacy. It’s basically an introduction of new rights for you as a customer that prevents your data from being shared where you don’t want it to. And on the flip side, a new set of rules for businesses that state what they can and can’t do with customer data. So, for example, this is why you have been receiving emails from companies requesting for your agreement to remain on their mailing list, as without it they are no longer entitled to have your data on their files, nor are they allowed to contact you.

What does GDPR mean for small businesses?

Basically, unless a company is GDPR compliant, they are no longer able to have access to client data. As a small business, you must seek permission from the client first. For example, here at Safe & Sound Fire Limited we collect client data and so it is essential for us to be compliant with GDPR, and as of last month, our website has been updated so that is in keeping with these new regulations. Before we contract their data, the customer must agree to the terms of what it is being used for, who has access to it, and how long for.

You may see that we have a contact page on our website, where new or existing customers can come become acquainted with us. As a result, this means that we have access to some of their data, such as their name, email address or phone number. However, with these new regulations, we would not be able to do anything else with that data, such as adding them to our mailing list, without them consenting to it first as this would be a breach of privacy. Customers also have the opportunity to cancel or withdraw our access to their personal data at any time they want.

How this impacts Safe & Sound Fire Limited

Here at Safe & Sound Fire Limited, some would say that we could be considered as quite a niche business. Because of this, we want to reach out to as many people as possible, and our best asset for this is our website. It allows us to advertise our services and make those interested aware of the benefits that come with hiring from us. As the website is such a useful tool for us, it’s essential that it remains up to scratch in terms of regulations and standards and that our privacy policy is always spot on.

It’s important to us that our website is packed with all kinds of useful information for our audience. This includes information about us as a business, a break down of the services we provide, as well as security tips and a monthly blog where we can discuss topics that appeal to our customers. As a business ourselves, we actually cater to other business owners and we get a lot of our bookings and enquiries coming from the website. Once someone has browsed through the information they need, they can visit our contact page whereby they can get in touch with us. They have the option to either contact us directly by phone or by email, or they can leave an enquiry along with their personal details for us to get back to them. Because of this, it is essential that the site is fully compliant with GDPR so that we are never in breach of any client data and that it remains looked after in accordance of the clients wishes and that it is not used or shared without prior consent.

Furthermore, as we mentioned at the start of this blog, we also have fresh and updated terms of service, cookies and a new privacy policy so that we remain in keeping with the new regulations and guidelines and customers old and new have the ability to consent to use of their data.

We hope this information has been useful for you, and if you have any queries or are interested in any services displayed on our website, don’t hesitate to get in touch via our contact page and we will get back to you as soon as possible.