Is blowing out the candles on a birthday cake a regular occurrence where you work?  If you have a burglar alarm system in Miami Lakes, you may want to reconsider birthday celebrations.

Frontline staff often celebrate their birthdays in the office by the timeclock and the watercooler.  So long as the head honcho is okay with it, there’s nothing to worry about, right?

Wrong.  Think twice about lighting candles on your coworker’s birthday cake.  And that goes double these days.

Because of the ongoing pandemic, most workplaces wouldn’t dream of allowing one of their employees to blow all over food before serving it to someone else, let alone the entire department.  The risk is just too high.  That means singing above and blowing on a birthday cake are temporarily cancelled. That’s “the new normal.” 

In the past, however, there was another concern about open flames in the workplace: smoke detectors. 

Have you ever burnt popcorn in the office microwave?  Beep. Beep.  Bloop.  The timer’s set on the microwave, and the next you thing know, smoke comes pouring out.  That unpleasant smell of burnt popcorn permeates the entire area.  Smoke detectors trigger the entire building’s fire alarm system, and a firetruck rolls up to the premises in minutes, responding to the alarm.  How embarrassing!

That same disaster has been known to happen from birthday candles, too.  You would think that the flame would be too small to trigger the alarm, but you never known.  Today, people want social-media-worthy experiences; that means they’re not buying normal candles anymore.  They want pizazz.  They want sizzle. And that’s what they get when they set their office on fire with sparkler-type candles!

Here’s the deal:  If you have a burglar alarm system in your Miami Lakes business, you should choose to invest in a system that connects your smoke alarms or fire detection system to the fire department.  This may cost more, but the price is well worth it if somebody sets your business on fire with burnt popcorn or a flaming birthday cake.  You can’t afford a slow response when a fire breaks out.

How do you prevent false alarms (and be prepared for real ones while you’re at it)?

• Train employees how to use facilities properly. 
• If there are a lot of employees burning popcorn in the microwave, you may consider instituting a rule that they cannot make popcorn in the microwave anymore.  You might consider removing the microwave altogether (though you run the risk of unhappy employees protesting that they now have to eat cold leftovers for lunch). 
• Examine your birthday policy.  Consider going candle-less, if not cake-less.  We know it’s not the same, but is an outbreak of disease or a burning building worth the risk?
• Be sure your on-site managers know how to contact the alarm company in case of false alarm due to smoke (but no fire/emergency).  Be sure they know how to respond to a real emergency as well!

Now is a good time to reconsider your birthday policy.  It might also be a good time to check out a burglar alarm system in Miami Lakes.  To learn more, contact POGO security.