FIRE SAFETY IN ACCOMODATION BUILDINGS

Staff Accommodation buildings present special fire safety problems and considerations.
Strict local fire and construction codes ensure that Accommodation buildings are
designed to minimize the likelihood of a major fire. Yet Staff Accommodation fires do
happen - and residential fires are even more common.

Staff Accommodation fires are caused by the same things that start fires in low-rise
office and apartment buildings - smoking, cooking, arson, electrical systems, improperly
stored or handled combustible materials and so on.

Staff Accommodation Building Safety

Modern Staff Accommodation buildings are designed with numerous fire safety
features. To save lives and minimize property damage, it is essential that your Staff
Accommodation building's fire safety features be respected and maintained.

Alarms, Emergency Lighting, Detectors, Sprinkler Systems, Fire fighting systems: and
make sure that nothing is blocking or otherwise interfering with the proper operation of
such devices. Report any sign of damage or malfunction to management.

Exits: Never lock fire exits, or block doorways, halls, or stairways. Keep "fire doors"
closed to slow the spread of smoke or fire. Never prop fire doors open.

Be Prepared

How you react in a fire depends on how well you've prepared.

 Learn your Staff Accommodation building's evacuation plans. Knows where to go

if the alarm sounds, and practice your escape route.

 Learn the sound of your Staff Accommodation building's fire alarm.

 Know at least two exits from every room

 Know the location of your Staff Accommodation building's fire alarms, and learn
how to use them.

 Staff Accommodation emergency number is ‘0’.

In the Event of Fire

Proper evacuation procedures in Staff Accommodation buildings are similar to those for
fires in other buildings, but the large number of people who may be evacuating
simultaneously and the additional time it may take to escape from upper floors makes
cooperation and precision all the more important.

 When you discover a fire, sound the fire alarm, and call the operator by dialing
the Number ‘0’.
 If you can hear instructions coming over your Staff Accommodation building's
public address system, listen carefully, and do as you're told.
 Leave the fire area quickly, following your Staff Accommodation building's
evacuation plan and closing all doors behind you to slow the spread of fire and
smoke. Follow Staff Accommodation evacuation plan posted on the Notice board
and other prominent places in the Staff Accommodation. If you encounter smoke
or flame, use your alternate escape route.
 Crawl low under smoke. Heat and smoke rise; cleaner air will be near the floor.
 Test doors before you open them. Kneeling or crouching at the door, reach up as
high as you can, and touch the door, the knob, and the space between the door
and its frame with the back of your hand. If the door is hot, use another escape
route. If the door is cool, brace your shoulder against it, open it cautiously, and
continue.
 Never use an elevator when evacuating a burning building. Always go directly to
the nearest fire- and smoke-free stairwell.
 Once outside the building, stay out of the way of fire fighters. Tell the fire
department if anyone is left in the building, and do not re-enter the building until
you are told you may by the fire co-ordinator.

If You Are Trapped

 Stay calm, and take steps to protect yourself.

 If possible, go to a room with an outside window.
 If there is a working phone, call ‘0’, and tell the operator where you are. Do this
even if you can see fire trucks on the street below.
 Stay where rescuers can see you through the window, and wave a light-colored
cloth to attract their attention.
 Stuff clothing, towels, or newspapers around the cracks in doors to keep smoke
out of your refuge.
 Assemble in the emergency assembly point besides --------------.
 Do not leave the emergency assembly point or back to room unless you have
been advised to do so by the fire co-ordinator.