Back to 1st page - Fire extinguisher chart

Section 1 - Classes of fire and fire extinguisher types

Section 2 - How many extinguishers do you need?

Next Section 4 - Different ways to wall hang or stand your extinguishers

Section 5 - Annual maintenance and monthly inspections

Section 6 - How to save money on your maintenance

The positioning of your fire extinguishers is extremely important as every second counts in an emergency situation and you have to remember that the person trying to find them may be a first time visitor to your premises.

For most buildings, the best place to fix your extinguishers is by the main entrance as this would also be the main exit which makes it an obvious place to find fire fighting equipment.

Do not hide them behind a screen, a door or a retail display as inaccessibility makes them next to useless.

Other places to fix them are at fire exit doors and tops and/or bottom of stairs. In essence, they should be on fire exit routes whilst not obstructing the route itself.

Another couple of guidelines for how many would be that a person should not have to:

• travel more than 25 metres to get to a fire extinguisher
  
  
• go though more than two doors to get to an extinguisher
  
  
• go to a different floor level to find an extinguisher

In addition to the main fire points you may have specific risks such as a kitchen, a server room, a mains electrical intake, or a machine. In these cases, the extinguisher or fire blanket needs to be near to the risk but not so close that it could not be grabbed in a fire situation. These also need to be in a very visible position and not hidden in cupboards or behind other things.

Read the next Section to see the various methods to wall mount or fix up your equipment.

Identification Signs

Over the past few years, fire fighting equipment of all kinds has been identified by the use of safety signage.

There have been excellent developments with Jalite leading most of us toward photoluminescent extinguisher signs with explanations of the suitability for types of fires clearly marked.

These were originally developed to help as people changed from coloured extinguishers to red ones with little coloured zones but have been so widely adopted that they have almost become the Regulation - and some would argue that these are a legal requirement.

A location sign above an extinguisher clearly identifies its position and also clearly shows when it is missing.

For further information on positioning fire extinguishers see British Standard 5306 part 8:2000.

Back to 1st page - Fire extinguisher chart

Section 1 - Classes of fire and fire extinguisher types

Section 2 - How many extinguishers do you need?

Next Section 4 - Different ways to wall hang or stand your extinguishers

Section 5 - Annual maintenance and monthly inspections

Section 6 - How to save money on your maintenance