3 Fire Safety Tips For Your Apartment Building's Laundry Room

Having a laundry room on-site for your apartment tenants to use can be a great perk that can encourage people to move in. Plus, if your machines are coin-operated, it can be a nice way for you to make a little bit of additional money as well. However, one thing that you could be concerned about is the potential for fires to erupt in your apartment's laundry room. Although it's not fully possible to prevent fires, there are some safety tips that you can implement to help keep your tenants -- as well as your property and your expensive laundry equipment -- safe.

1. Have the Dryer Vents Cleaned Out Regularly

First of all, you should make sure that you hire a commercial dryer vent cleaning service to clear your vents out regularly. The frequency with which you will need to have this done will depend on a few factors, such as how many people are using your machines; therefore, you will probably want to ask a pro for advice about this. Dryers that are used all day by tenants can have the tendency to become clogged with lint quite quickly, and this lint can easily catch fire. This is why this step is imperative to follow if you take fire safety seriously.

2. Post Rules for Tenants

Post rules for your tenants to follow when using your machines, such as not washing laundry that has been in contact with oil or grease and cleaning out the lint trap after each load. If you restrict laundry room access to tenants only and install cameras, you can help ensure that people follow the rules, since tenants might be concerned about being caught if they don't. Plus, keeping close tabs on your laundry room can help prevent theft and vandalism, so it's a good idea regardless.

3. Contain Potential Fires

In the unfortunate event that a fire does break out in your apartment complex's laundry room, you should make sure that the fire will be as well-contained as possible. If possible, consider building a small laundry room that is not actually attached to the rest of your apartment building. If this is not an option, use a fire door to help keep potential fires contained, and consider installing a fire suppression system or fire sprinkler system. This will help keep the rest of the apartment safe until the authorities can arrive, in the event that a fire does break out.

Laundry room safety is very important in any apartment complex. Follow these three tips, and you should be able to keep your tenants and your property safe from fires.