An important aspect of a systematic maintenance program for your fire extinguishers is keeping it full. This task must be performed diligently and must be taken seriously by whoever is responsible. Whether as the head of a family or a company, the one assigned with this job of refilling the fire extinguishers when the need arises has to handle the matter properly. Keeping your fire protection units ready for action all the time can spell the difference between a burned or a saved house or business assets.

How do you come up with a systematic maintenance plan for your fire extinguisher?

1. Inspect and review the manufacturer's manual and instructions. If you are a technical guy or DIY practitioner, you may have the aptitude to handle the refill yourself. If not, you have to go out of your way to trace and identify at least two refillers near your area. Inquire from whoever you purchased your units if they have fire extinguisher refill service. If they don't have, ask for references. When you get their contact numbers, set up a time to call or see them. By phone, you can ask preliminary questions such as their place, do they have site service, price, any quantity discount, etc. If you have many units, go and see the manager of the refilling company and discuss the feasibility of having an annual maintenance and safety inspection contract. Ask for a company profile or their website so that you can have some idea how long they have been in the business and go over testimonials by satisfied customers.

2. Try to check for any fire training seminars or tutorials where you or a delegate from your company can attend. If it is for your family members and household utility people, a hands on tutorial is important. You may want to expose them to some videos about the subject of fire extinguisher use, inspection and refills. There are many of such kind in the Internet through Youtube and other sites. There you can learn that these tasks are necessary even if the extinguishers were only partially used or if they lost weight maybe from leaks. If there are pressure valves and your people know how to check the psi, isn't that great? All of this vital information gathering and activities are necessary learning tools.

3. Maintain an inspection record for every fire extinguisher so that you can readily know when a unit is inspected or tested, when was its last refill, the name of the person or the refilling company's authorized personnel who performed the task, when it is due for inspection, testing and refilling and other relevant facts. All of these data have to be diligently encoded into your home or company computer file and/or written down in a specific ledger record book.

Average cost per portable refill is about USD 15 or maybe a bit more for bigger models such the floor or wall mounted types. Consider this appropriation as an investment although it is recorded as an expense account in your books. It is an investment because of the tremendous impact it has on the lives of people and the value of your home or company property. You cannot imagine the unquantifiable loss if the task of refilling your fire extinguisher is not handled properly and a terrible scenario happens!