The binder next to the fire extinguisher
Fire safety is the oldest compliance in the building, and in many organizations it still runs on paper: the fire safety log in a binder, inspection dates on stickers, the marshal quota as an estimate. Why the deadlines here are especially hard to keep track of, and what happens when you manage them like an asset inventory.
Long before anyone talked about information security, there was fire safety. And in many organizations it still runs on paper: the fire safety log is a binder on a shelf, inspection dates are stickers on the equipment, the number of fire marshals is an estimate from last year. That works as long as nothing happens and nobody asks.
The problem is not the deadlines but their variety
Fire safety is not one obligation with one date but a bundle of many. A portable fire extinguisher is serviced at least every two years under DIN 14406-4. A fire alarm system follows DIN 14675 with annual servicing and quarterly inspection. Sprinkler, gas extinguishing and smoke extraction systems, hold-open devices on fire doors, emergency lighting, wall hydrants: every installation brings its own standard, its own interval and its own requirement for the inspector, from a competent person to a certified expert. Anyone tracking that across several sites in their head or in a spreadsheet eventually loses the overview, and does so quietly.
What counts in an emergency is the evidence
After a fire, nobody asks whether you meant well. The questions are when the installation was last inspected, by whom, with what result, and what became of the defects. That is exactly what the fire safety log exists for. A binder serves that purpose as long as it is complete. But you usually notice its gaps only when it is too late to close them.
Fire safety as a managed register
The new fire safety module in isidaten treats fire safety installations as what they are: assets with inspection duties. Extinguishers, fire alarm systems, smoke extraction, sprinklers and fire doors sit in one register, each type preloaded with its standard interval and its norm, overridable per installation. Inspections are documented with findings and an uploaded report and run as a history; the digital fire safety log emerges from it and can be exported as a PDF. Add the documents that belong to it: fire safety regulations parts A, B and C under DIN 14096, escape and rescue plans under DIN ISO 23601 and fire brigade plans, each with a revision cycle. And the fire marshal quota under ASR A2.2 is calculated per site from the number of employees instead of being estimated.
More is shown on the fire safety module page. How this interlocks with risk assessments and instruction is covered by occupational safety.
Questions about this update?
Talk to us – we are happy to show you this feature in a demo.