The business safety team at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has joined forces with the licensing team at Nottinghamshire Police and the team at Mansfield Business Improvement District (BID) to engage with members of staff in businesses to raise awareness of certain fire safety issues which arise during the festive period.
Business education advocate, Sophie Winterbottom, said: “This initiative was an opportunity to create wider relationships with the businesses in our communities as well as provide them with safety advice. The majority of businesses we visited in Mansfield were aware of the extra precautions they have to take during this period.
“If you have a business, please ensure that you are not covering fire exit signs with tinsel, overloading plug sockets with Christmas lights or blocking fire escape routes with Christmas stock.”
Paul Horton, Senior Licensing Officer, said: “It is always great to come together with our partners and offer this support to businesses as a partnership. The aim of this initiative really was to ensure businesses have the most up-to-date and best possible safety advice in the run up to Christmas.
“We spoke to businesses around making sure their CCTV is working and retrieving footage, as well as where to place Christmas decorations so this coverage isn’t affected should an incident occur which we need to investigate.
“Organising adequate door staff at busy times was also something we discussed with the premises, as well general vigilance, including taking note of how potentially vulnerable people might be getting home and organising taxis.
“Christmas is a great time for people to enjoy themselves and I think it’s fair to say that, as a collective, we are committed to taking these proactive steps to make sure businesses are in the best possible position and that the public can have a safe and enjoyable festive period if they choose to go out.”
