Telgian fire protection expert Ralph Bless recently shared his knowledge and expertise in the article, “How do holiday decorations impact fire safety?” with the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) magazine FMJ. In the piece, he explores how a facility’s holiday decorations can impede exiting and egress, present fire and electrical hazards, trip and fall hazards, cause lacerations, and create many other safety challenges.
“It is critical that the facility team members recognize these issues and properly mitigate them,” says Bless. “Depending on the community, some may think of these as primarily a winter or summer issue, or cold versus warm environment concern. The reality is they can arise at any time of the year and in any climate. It is all based on the holiday celebrations that the community choses to engage in. In fact, there are also many other types of celebrations for sports events and other community events that occur locally. Most of these can result in similar potential issues and care should be taken to mitigate the fire hazard.”
Bless, a licensed professional engineer with over 39 years of experience, is the Vice President of Account Management at Telgian, a worldwide fire, safety and security firm. In addition to serving Telgian for 22 years, he also sits on multiple National Fire Protection Association (NFPA technical committees, and currently chairs the NFPA 232 technical committee.
To read “How do holiday decorations impact fire safety?” in its entirety, please visit International Facility Management Association (IFMA).
About Telgian
Leading the industry since 1985, Telgian is trusted by businesses around the globe as a single-source solution for fire protection, security and life safety services. Telgian can take a building project from site evaluation through design, to engineering and construction, plus perform ongoing maintenance for the life of a facility.
For media interviews with Ralph Bless, please contact:
Susan McNeill
480-621-5031