Fire Safety Tips for Hotels

Posted 6 years ago

Hotel Fire Safety Checklist

Fire safety in hotels needs to be taken more seriously than in normal residential buildings. Due to their size, multiple floor levels and the number of people inside the building at one time, hotels are often more susceptible to fires and hotel owners face a larger risk of mass injury in the, hopefully unlikely, event of a fire. This is why it’s essential for staff in the hospitality industry to have thorough training and have access to the correct equipment to fight fires.

Hotel fire statistics

To show the importance of fire safety in hotels it’s crucial to look at what happens when things go wrong. The worst-case scenario is one we never want to happen but with correct hotel fire safety training, it can be mitigated and avoided when fires arise.

On the 14th of October 2022 hotel fire in Kensington on Scarsdale Place. The fire required assistance from the local fire brigade and led to over 500 people being evacuated before they even arrived. The average response time for fire services to reach hotels and other residential buildings was 8 minutes and 28 seconds, meaning any hotel manager needs to act quickly. They also needed assistance from Chelsea, Fulham, Battersea and Paddington Fire Crews.

Back on the 6th February 2018, a hotel in Attleborough suffered severe fire damage. The hotel was closed for almost 8 months before reopening and statistics show that approximately 80% of businesses stop trading altogether after 6 months following a serious fire.

Fire safety checklist for hotels

Below is a handy fire safety checklist for those working in hotels to run through these fire safety tips to make sure you’re fire safety compliant, covering things such as safety equipment and a plan of action:

Provide hotel fire safety training for staff (this is a legal requirement!) and carry out fire drills regularly (minimum twice a year). Here at iHasco, we aim to do them once a month.
Fire risk assessments need to be carried out annually. A fire risk assessment should also be conducted if there are material changes in the building.
Hotel fire alarms should be tested weekly.
Any checks, equipment checks, training and drills need to be recorded in a safety book.
Emergency lights should be fully functioning and be tested regularly to test that they are working. These should be placed in hallways, stairs and public rooms.
Fire doors should not be wedged open and should not be damaged.
Carry out checks of the building, test fire alarms, escape routes, and make sure no escape routes are blocked.
Fire action notices should be near to call points. Specifically, in hotel rooms, there should be signs on the bedroom doors so guests know what to do in case of a fire.
All emergency exit signs should be visible and illuminated.
There should always be effective emergency procedures in place to evacuate a building during a fire.
Check fire extinguishers monthly and make sure that they are undamaged, full, and in the right locations. Refer to our guide on the different types of fire extinguishers.

It’s also important to ensure that your workplace has a designated Fire Warden to take charge of these checks and make sure that all requirements are carried out. *This is a legal requirement for any hotel.

Hotel fire safety regulations

There are no strict guidelines for how many Fire Wardens you need in your workplace, however, it is good practice to have one fire warden for every floor and on every shift. You will need to conduct a risk assessment to assess how many people there are in your building and whether there is a low, medium or high risk.

This does not mean there aren’t any regulations. Employers in the hospitality industry must complete regular fire safety checks to make sure they are compliant and have at least one fire warden/fire marshal onsite at all times.

Hotel Fire Awareness Training is an essential part of employee training in the hospitality industry and can help prevent serious accidents. Why not get started with a free trial today?