Hi Graham.

There has been a blanket ban here for a number of years- after a few visits from the fire service!

I think its ridiculous to ban them like that- manage them instead.

People will burn toast- a heat detector is the sensible thing to do. Tell the staff that if the do keep filling the place with the smell of burnt toast you will take it away.

Personally I wouldn't have a fire blanket.

Hope this helps

Andy

worth noting i have had a toaster in my house for 20 years,and so have most of my freinds and family...no one has died due to toaster use so far as far as i am aware.

Agree not sure why people think a toaster is a mini killing machine.

Let them have a toaster- if they muck about remove it. With regard to the fire blanket- I have found previously if you put something there like this there will always be one person who wants to play the hero. Perhaps have the fire marshals trained on the use of the fire blanket?

Tell the staff that they must stop with the toaster whilst in use - simple - plus no need for a blanket.

SBH

I hope you filmed all of the above for your next H&S lecture ha ha.

Sounds like you need a few smoke stop doors?

I have effectively banned toasters from open plan snack areas and other areas not deemed to be kitchens (rest rooms, security office etc).

This is entirely a business interruption avoidance initiative and NOT as part of a fire safety (or H&S) strategy. It is vital to get that message across to staff

As has been said by Mebo, even where kitchens have heat detection, well meaning staff who attempt to remove smoke from a kitchen by opening the door, or just general traffic through a kitchen door can lead to the smoke detection being operated in the corridor/area outside.

This risk is acceptable, but toasters else in locations where smoke detectors are installed is not a business interruption risk that is acceptable. This policy has gone down like a lead balloon with night shift workers, but there are plenty of toasters in snack areas away from open plan offices & technical areas.

There is a sound business case for not interrupting production and the toaster policy is one of a range of methods in place to prevent unwanted fire signals.

I do not believe a fire blanket is the appropriate firefighting equipment for a toaster

Nothing wrong with having toasters but needs some control around use. False alarms etc.

When you site them ask for the budget code for the department manager, so if required you can cross charge the £500,00 call out fees from the brigade for the false alarms. Works wonders.......