Fire at the workplace can be caused by a multitude of reasons ranging from negligence on the part of workers or employers, fault in machines, or inadequate awareness on the part of people about fire and its consequences. The reasons listed above have been explained in detail below.
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Negligence
Human error is the main cause of fire in workplaces and homes. A very common cause of fire in the workplace is the mishandling of machines which leads to overheating and eventually fire. Food left burning, spilling of inflammable liquids, blockage of ventilation, and improper storage of inflammable material near a source of fire are other few causes of the fire that happen due to negligence.
In order to prevent any tragedy because of fire, the workplace must be secured with fire safety equipment and fire extinguishers.
- Inadequate training of staff
A major reason behind fires is the inadequate knowledge of staff about the standard safety procedures and safety protocol in case of a fire. There should be proper training and education of the employees as well as employers about the risk factors of fire and how to deal with it. The fire has the potential to cause immense damage to property and life. Important documents can be lost, people can be rendered jobless and serious injuries can happen. Thus providing proper fire safety training to everyone in the workplace makes possible the control as well as prevention of fire, thus safeguarding important assets as well as life.
Fire safety training will make the employees efficient in recognizing fire sources and causes as well in dealing and responding to a fire as quickly and efficiently possible.- Faulty Electrical Wiring
Electrical fires are the most common type of fire that occurs due to faulty electrical components such as wires, broken cables, circuits, and other parts. Old wiring is often a major cause of short circuits and fires in electrical appliances and devices. There are a huge number of gadgets and appliances in homes these days such as a computer, air conditioner, TV, microwave, etc. and old wiring is not capable of handling this overload. Thus certain signs such as flickering lights or intermittent power outages, appliances, or devices that heat up fast, sparking devices or appliances, and burning smell should not be ignored.  
Although it’s hard to identify faults in the wiring, one must be very vigilant to signs and get professional help immediately.
