Fire Prevention Week, October 5-11

FIRE PREVENTION WEEK! This year's theme from NFPA is "Smoke Alarms Save Lives: Test Yours Every Month." IAAI believes that as one of the leaders in industry, we have an obligation to share this message and continue to promote fire safety and prevention.

Most of the work of our members occurs after the fire, but that does not PREVENT us (pun intended) from being part of the fire prevention team. In fact, determining the cause of a fire, and in some cases the person or persons responsible, leads to fire prevention.

In the case of an incendiary fire, getting the responsible parties off the street and behind bars, for the public sector, keeps them from setting another fire and serves as a deterrent to others who might think they can get away with a similar act. In the private sector it may be winning the claim denial case that sends the message.

Just as importantly, when there is an accidental fire there is an opportunity for prevention of future incidents. These opportunities may come in the form of identifying a product that may need to be the subject of a recall or of a human act that we can identify and target for prevention. The important key, however, is that we cannot compartmentalize the information. In order to be used as a tool for prevention, we need to share what we have learned.

That said, it does not mean that we violate anyone’s privacy or rights, but there are ways to share the safety message without divulging private or proprietary information. If you are not actively using the findings of your investigation to prevent future incidents, we here at IAAI encourage you to start.

www.nfpa.org/safety-information/fire-prevention-week News Archive