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What To Include in A Fire Safety Evacuation Plan For Business
What To Include in A Fire Safety Evacuation Plan For Business
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In the instance of a fire, a quick and safe evacuation of everyone in the building is of the
utmost importance. Fire and smoke spread fast, and could leave people trapped in
dangerous, inescapable locations if an evacuation plan is not in place. But as an
employer, owner, manager, landlord, or occupier of a business/other non-domestic
premises, you will ensure that no one is ever put in that position by preparing an effective
and tested evacuation plan. You are known as the ‘responsible person’.
Doing so simply involves observing your workplace, identifying the risks, determining
who may be harmed, implementing new safety measures in light of your findings, and
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reviewing/updating it on a regular basis. Once you have assessed the premises in this
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way, you can begin to consider what you need to include in your emergency plan.
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If you have more than five employees, you must record your findings and your
emergency plan.
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immediately. People need to be aware of where the fire alarms are located so they
can do so.
Contacting the fire brigade or other emergency services – you should plan how
they will be called and who will be responsible for doing so.
Emergency lighting – where appropriate, such as in windowless stairwells,
emergency lighting should be installed in case the power goes down.
Any Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) where needed – this is a
plan tailored to accommodate people with vulnerabilities that may affect their ability
to evacuate safely.
Assembly point – you must inform everyone of where the assembly point is and
instruct them to go only there in the event of a fire. A sign should indicate where it
is.
Procedures for roll call – when everyone is gathered at the assembly point, you
must have a system for determining who is present and who may still be in the
building.
Implementing all of these evacuation arrangements will ensure that people exit the
building as quickly as possible, in an orderly fashion, and do so safely.
Take a look at our health and safety course library where you’ll find
everything from Fire Safety Training to Fire Warden Training.
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Trained all employees in what to do if a fire breaks out and informed them where
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all the escape routes are and where the assembly point is.
Created
High Speed Training Topics point for all staff present in your building, locatedSearch
a safe meeting away
from the premises.
Designated a fire warden or marshal, whose duty will be monitoring fire safety at
all times, actively following good fire safety practices, and taking action in the event
of a fire to lead the evacuation.
One thing that you must remember about fires is that they spread incredibly quickly,
uncontrollably, and erratically. What appeared to be a clear exit two minutes ago could
suddenly become completely inaccessible.
Part of the fire warden or marshal’s duty is scouting the escape route; they must
determine that it is safe and free of smoke and/or fire before leading people onto it.
For example, if the warden or marshal identifies that a doorknob is hot or a stairwell is
rapidly filling with smoke, they must lead employees to another route. It is their duty to
make sure no one is attempting to use an escape route that has been compromised in
terms of safety.
1. Simultaneous evacuation.
2. Vertical or horizontal phased evacuation.
3. Staff alarm evacuation (silent alarm).
4. Defend in place.
1. Simultaneous Evacuation
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This will be the evacuation process that most premises can use, particularly those that
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are not very big and don’t have many floors. It involves everyone exiting the building, in
response
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the warning Search
signal given when a fire has been discovered, by walking
Topics
through the escape routes in a calm and orderly fashion.
In buildings that are larger than most, more complex in terms of layout, and have multiple
floors, a vertical phased evacuation will allow those who are at a more immediate risk to
evacuate the premises first and temporary delay those who are not. It may be
appropriate in these circumstances to start evacuating only the area closest to the fire
and tell others to stand by.
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Evacuation of the floor where the fire is situated would be done first and foremost, as
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well as the floor above it. Evacuating higher levels quickly is essential; people could
become
High trapped
Speed as theTopics
Training fire continues to spread upwards. Search
Where a vertical phased evacuation strategy is required, the fire warning systems should
be capable of emitting two distinctly different signals (warning and evacuation) or
delivering voice messages.
A horizontal phased evacuation may be required in premises like hospitals and care
homes, where fire resistant compartments are available or where treatment can continue
to be delivered until the fire has been dealt with.
Both vertical and horizontal evacuations take time and are risky, so additional fire
precautions may be required. This includes voice alarm systems, fire control points,
compartmentation of the premises (using fire-resistant construction in certain areas), or
having sprinklers in the building where appropriate.
There will be some cases where setting off a general alarm for immediate evacuation is
not appropriate, such as in cinemas and theatres. This is due to the mass of people
present and the need for staff to put pre-arranged plans for safe evacuation into action;
overcrowding will disrupt the safe and effective evacuation of everyone in the premises.
In these circumstances, a ‘silent’ staff alarm should be given that only they are aware of
(through the use of fire records, personal pagers, discreet sounders, or a coded phrase
on a public address system, for example), which will alert them to conduct a phased
evacuation and set off a more general alarm signal when ready. A general alarm may be
activated automatically if manual initiation has not taken place within a pre-determined
time.
4. Defend In Place
There will be special circumstances which require the occupants of the building to stay
put and allow the fire brigade to extinguish the fire. This is particularly true of hospitals or
nursing homes, where patients may be confined to their beds, are immobile, or are on
life support.
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Temporary relocation may take place if possible, but in the case of patients who are
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connected to life support and cannot be moved, a decision would have to be made about
whichSpeed
High option is best: stay
Training or move. Because of how high-risk this strategy is, youSearch
Topics should
only plan to use it if you have sought the advice of a competent person and the
fire/rescue services.
Regardless of what strategy you decide to follow, you must always consider the
individual needs of those with vulnerabilities, such as those who are confined to
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wheelchairs, who are hard of hearing or deaf, or are visually impaired or blind. A
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specially-tailored plan should be made for them where required, which is known as a
Personal
High Emergency
Speed Training Evacuation
Topics Plan (PEEP). Search
A PEEP should ensure that those with vulnerabilities receive assistance from the point of
raising the fire alarm to passing through the final exit of the building.
It can be useful for those who may require a PEEP in your workplace to fill in an
Emergency Evacuation Assessment form (and to receive assistance if they are visually
impaired or blind). This will enable you to make whatever particular arrangements are
required for a person with disabilities so that they can evacuate safely in the instance of
a fire.
DO
Raise the alarm by operating the nearest fire alarm call point.
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Ensure that any visitors on the premises are also escorted from the building.
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Evacuate to a safe location, i.e. the assembly point.
Remain
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DON’T
Use the lift (unless it has been specially designated as a refuge or part of the
emergency escape route).
Run during the evacuation process; this causes panic and can lead to accidents
which affect people’s escape and safety.
Stop or return to collect personal belongings.
Attempt to fight fires unless you are a trained personnel, e.g. a fire warden or
marshal.
Further Resources:
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Louise has been writing for the Hub since its creation and has produced articles on
a wide range of topics. Louise prefers not to specialise in one particular area, so
has written about everything from asbestos and COSHH, through to food safety,
safeguarding issues and business skills.
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