Thought I should deal with this issue again; it's been several years. Those dozen little boxes on the back of the annual service card wired to the top of your office fire extinguisher - they let you date and initial each time you do the monthly visual inspection of the unit. Didn't know that you need to do a monthly inspection? Neither did I, until a few years ago.
We're in a restored 1914 two story house, less than a mile from the center of Phoenix. Old wood, untreated, doubtless very dry; wiring's been updated and fooled with, from time to time (all up to code,
but who knows?). I've got a half dozen fire extinguishers scattered around the building, where by OSHA and insurance regs I probably need but one. Paranoia can be a good thing.
I've known for decades about the regulations requiring an annual professional inspection and (if needed) the recharging of the units, and do so religiously (at least more religiously than I do religion). But nobody ever told me that OSHA, and probably my insurance company, require a monthly visual inspection. Simple stuff; a technician is not required. You confirm that the extinguisher is where it's supposed to be (duh!), check that the little arrow on the dial is in the green field, insure that the little pull-pin is in place (it locks the unit, so insures that nobody has used it - I'll tell that story later - and maybe left the nozzle clogged), and that no ugly fluid or powder is leaking out. Then sign and initial, so you know (and can demonstrate to the interested regulator) that you check it regularly. Simple stuff, and obvious. A fire extinguisher that is not there, or not working, doesn't do much good in a fire.
A bit after I checked (and initialed) my units, I got to thinking. If I was not aware of the requirements, given all the trade literature and safety stuff I read, some of my janitorial clients might be unaware as well. They are mostly small to medium sized facilities, generally too small to have a full-time safety coordinator on site. So we did a quick, surreptitious survey during our regular monthly daytime customer service visits. Looked at extinguishers in about 50 client facilities. Found 4 in compliance.
After a quick bit of training, some programming of our client inspection database, and confirming that the folks who do the annual on our units would be available for any of our clients who might need them, we're set to add monthly fire extinguisher inspections to the safety check (security lighting, battery back-up on "exit" signs, janitor closet and chemical storage issues) we already do for our clients. Minimal time is involved, so we don't charge extra for the service.
It's just another "value added" item.