Last week, we discussed the benefits of creating a questionnaire for fire safety teams to use when conducting inspections at your facility. Let's now look at how to use and create such a questionnaire. And, if you're a member of SafetyXChange, you can access our model questionnaire in the Tools section.

How to Use Questionnaire

Give the Questionnaire to the team leader and have that person distribute a copy to each team member responsible for inspecting an area of the facility. Once the inspection is over, the team leader should review the Questionnaire and sign it upon verifying that it's complete.

After inspections, you might want to hold interdepartmental meetings with facility managers to discuss the findings. This is especially true if the inspections unearth major or recurring safety problems. Give the department leaders copies of completed Questionnaires of inspections in their area and include notes and suggestions for corrections. Appoint somebody to be in charge of corrective actions and set a deadline. Once the deadline passes, do a follow-up inspection to verify that corrections have indeed been made.

How to Create Questionnaire

Fire inspection team Questionnaires must be tailored to the configuration, operation and needs of your particular facility. But the essential approach is the same. Like our Model Questionnaire, your form should:

Provide Clear Instructions: The first part of the Questionnaire should explain what you want team members to do. At a minimum, ask them to conduct the inspection, fill out the form and return it to the team leader; then have the team leader review the form and give it to you.

List Inspection Detail: Leave space for the inspection date, team leader's name and signature, inspecting team member and area inspected.

Ask 10 Questions: Next comes the heart of the Questionnaire, the actual things you want inspected. Like ours, your Questionnaire should ask questions about 10 things:

1. Whether all exit doors are clearly marked;
2. Whether all exits and exit routes are unobstructed;
3. Whether there are any doorways that workers might mistake for exits during a fire. Remember that the OSHA General Requirements Standard requires you to mark any doorway or passageway that might be mistaken for an exit;
4. Whether workers know where in their work area portable fire extinguishers are located;
5. Whether workers in the area have been trained to use portable fire extinguishers;
6. Whether workers who are supposed to be trained to use portable fire extinguishers really know what they're doing. Ask them to tell you in their own words what they would do when using the fire extinguisher;
7. Whether all fire extinguishers are where they're supposed to be. If a fire extinguisher has been removed or is missing, you'll need to immediately replace it or provide "alternate equivalent protection";
8. Whether all fire extinguishers appear to be in fully operable condition. Verify that there are no signs of corrosion or mechanical damage;
9. The date of the last visual inspection listed on the tag of each portable fire extinguisher. Remember that OSHA requires that fire extinguishers be inspected at least once a month; and
10. Whether there are any combustible materials, scraps or debris in the area.

Conclusion

Fires and the fatalities, serious injuries and property damage they cause are often the product of carelessness and mistakes. Having the kind of questionnaire described in this series can be very effective in assuring the vigilance and focus necessary to prevent most fires from occurring.

MEMBER REPLY
Test Smoke Alarms Monthly

In your Safety Tips you mention that we should test our smoke alarms in the Spring & Fall. This is when we should change our batteries in these alarms. The smoke alarms should be tested at least monthly (manufacturers recommend weekly). We must make sure these life saving devices are working - when we need them.

Yours in fire safety,

Tom Boon
Deputy Fire Chief/Coordinator of Fire Prevention & Public Education St. Clair Township Fire Department
Mooretown, Ontario

SAFETY TIP OF THE WEEK
Watch for Recalled Products During Spring Clean-Out

Cheap recalled products are no bargain

By Catherine Jones

What Does This Number Represent?

466

That's the number of hazardous products recalled last year by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). But not everyone is hearing about these recalls. And that's a big concern to the CPSC, particularly during spring cleaning season.

As people clear out closets and cupboards, they might unknowingly reintroduce a hazardous product back into their homes or into the home of another person by selling the items at a garage sale.

Some items that wind-up at garage sales that could have been recalled include:

• Grills and outdoor furniture
• Outdoor power equipment
• Children's products
• Power tools
• Fans
• Electronic products

To get the word out about unsafe products, the CPSC has launched a new campaign "Drive to 1 Million" and urges consumers to visit its website at www.cpsc.gov and register for free electronic notification of recalled products.

The website contains an archive of recalled products, so before you use that steal of a deal air compressor, check out the CPSC site first.

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