How often should you service fire extinguishers?
Fire extinguishers aid us in fighting a fire whenever there is a fire emergency. Every business is responsible for the safety of their premises, with that of workers and visitors at all times.
Provisions of adequate fire extinguishers in the company premises are among the ways every business owner protects the safety of the workers, visitors and the environment.
According to some requirements such as Regulatory Reform (fire safety) Order 2005, OSHA 1926.150 CFR, and others, Fire extinguishers provided by the employer should be maintained, undergo service and inspected. Doing this will enable the fire extinguisher to function correctly in any emergency.
With this requirement in mind, all fire extinguishers should be maintained and serviced.
How often should it be serviced, and what kind of service is necessary for fire extinguishers at any given time?
1. Regular visual inspection- Once every month.
Inspect all your fire extinguishers once every month to check for problems arising within those periods. Inspect all your fire extinguishers(water, co2, and wet chemicals ) once a month and keep the inspection record.
The monthly inspection should be quick and not take up more time. If possible, develop an inspection checklist for easy reporting. While doing that, Check the pressure gauge, head cap pin, seal, hose etc. And if you detect any anomaly, it should be noted in your report.
Extend the inspection on how better the location is, how easy it is to locate the extinguisher, the presence of the fire extinguisher sign and the placement of the fire extinguisher.
2. Basic Service -Every 12 months
Under basic service, the servicing of fire extinguishers is every 12 months. In some places, they allow it to be every 6 months. The bottom line should be that there is a schedule for this kind of servicing. This servicing may involve emptying and refilling the fire extinguisher bottles at authorized service centres by a third-party accredited fire extinguisher technician. The technician is a trained personnel with the required experience and professionalism. In some places, there would be an internal department for this arrangement. The technician will be responsible for the maintenance label after completing the repairs.
3. Extended service- Every five years
This service is done every five years for all fire extinguishers by a trained technician at authorized service centres. The Extended servicing of fire extinguishers is more detailed and requires a more in-depth look into the fire extinguishers. Overhaul and change all the different parts of the fire extinguishers (the valves, the head cap O ring, and others). Check the extinguisher for leaks. Check for other things, such as the location, duration and distance of the fire extinguisher from fire sources. The body of the fire extinguisher is pressurized hydrostatically to check for things like stretching, cracking or bulging. Some places conduct extended service every ten years for CO2 fire extinguishers.
4. End of life
There is no limit to how old a fire extinguisher can be. For this, the fire extinguisher can continue for use as it passes the inspection test with servicing at regular intervals. However, you can replace the fire extinguishers after every extended year of service if you so want. Alternatively, If the replacement parts are unavailable, you can get the new versions of the extinguisher.
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About The Author
It’s interesting when you said that implementing a proper scheduling approach could help provide the best function. My cousin told me that he hopes to have their fire extinguishers inspected for safety and preventative purpose in their clothing company. He asked if I had any suggestions on the best fire safety approach. You did an excellent job of explaining the importance of fire equipment safety for safety implementations. I’ll be sure to inform them that they may contact a well-known fire extinguisher service that can provide preventative measures.