Fire door faultsUK employees are being put at serious risk in the workplace, according to a survey which revealed that a third of staff do not receive the necessary fire safety training from their employers.

IronmongeryDirect's survey of 1,000 UK employees, conducted ahead of Fire Door Safety Week (14-20 September), revealed that many employees were not even aware of the steps they should take if the fire alarm was to sound. Nearly a quarter (22%) would look to see what everyone else was doing before taking action, 13% would just ignore it and carry on working and 4% would try and find the fire.

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Additionally, only 47% of respondents were aware that their employer carried out regular fire risk assessments - which are in fact a legal requirement. 24% said that they weren’t aware of regular risk assessments and 29% didn’t know either way.

Wayne Lysaght-Mason, managing director at IronmongeryDirect, said: “Having robust fire safety procedures in place in the workplace is of the utmost importance as business owners have a duty to ensure that their staff members are safe. Failure to implement a proper fire safety plan not only puts people’s lives at risk, but can lead to prosecution and fines for those responsible for fire safety in the building.

“One of the most crucial methods of stopping the spread of a fire is to install fire doors and so it is important that they are installed and maintained properly and comply with fire regulations. We have put together our new fire door safety checklist to make it easier to spot unsafe fire doors and get them back in good working order.”

When asked about fire door safety, 53% admitted that they would not know how to spot a dodgy fire door and 28% didn’t actually know that it was illegal to prop open a fire door without a specially designed device approved by the fire authority.

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In light of these findings, IronmongeryDirect has launched a new fire door safety checklist to make it easy for people to spot a dodgy fire door and check that it is in full working order. It covers all of the essential components that are required to make a fire door fully operational and can easily be taken on the job by tradespeople who have been tasked with installing or maintaining a fire door.

During Fire Door Safety Week IronmongeryDirect will also be raising money for The Fire Fighters Charity. To download their fire door safety checklist visit: www.IronmongeryDirect.co.uk/fire-door