Fire safety is a major consideration when planning to open a day care facility. You are ultimately responsible for the safety of every individual who enters your premises, staff, children, parents and visitors. It is vital therefore that you have an effective fire safety management policy as fire safety is achieved via this policy combined with adequate fire safety features in your premises. Your job, quite simply, is to take whatever steps necessary to minimize fire risk and should a fire occur you will have procedures in place to evacuate staff and children quickly.

You will need to put a fire safety program in place in order to realize this goal. Much of this is common sense and good housekeeping practice so should not cost much in terms of time or money. One member of staff should be assigned responsibility for the fire safety program and they should be involved in drawing up a brief written statement outlining the elements that constitute your program.

The fire safety program should detail what fire prevention measures are in place at your day care i.e. what steps are you taking to reduce or eliminate the risks of a fire occurring. These can include not storing flammable gases or liquids in the building, regular checks ensuring that all gas and electrical appliances are in safe working order, ensuring safe cooking practices in the kitchen, utilizing non combustible materials where possible.

In order that your staff know how to deal effectively and calmly with an emergency situation you should provide ongoing staff training. Fire prevention entails knowing what to do, where to go and how to do it so all staff should now the location of fire exits, fire fighting and protection equipment and fire detection and alarm facilities. All your training should cover the use of the above items plus exactly what to do during a fire drill. Staff induction is a good time to cover these elements but it is vital that annual training be undertaken also.

In order that staff can react effectively in an emergency you should implement regular fire drills at your day care. You should have monthly emergency evacuations which should occur without warning. These drills should take into consideration the following factors, how many people are on the premises, if any of them are disabled or sleeping as these individuals should be given high priority. Following evacuation all persons should gather at a prearranged assembly point and designated staff members should account for everybody. The roll book will have been evacuated also to accommodate the roll call. Finally, your fire drill report will review the event and highlight any areas that are cause for concern or improvement.

It is important to keep fire safety records at your child care facility which detail all aspects of your fire safety procedures and should be kept up to date. This record should contain name of the preschool service, name of the person running the day care, address of the premises, name of person responsible for all aspects of fire safety, name of person responsible for calling the fire brigade, number of children catered for, a floor plan of the day care, staff training details, details of fire drills, list of fire fighting equipment, details of inspection and maintenance of same.

The fire safety features of your individual premises are your responsibility e.g. the building itself, doors, windows, appliances, equipment, furnishings and fittings. Your fire officer can help you ensure that everything is up to standard. Essentially, you cannot afford to leave anything to chance. Seek professional help if you have any doubts thus ensuring that your premises is as fire safe as possible from the get go.