Posted By Marie T Hi Steve, Complacency is an issue you should definately be concerned about especially when it comes to safety issues. People tend to take fire drill/evacuations for granted. If you do not have production concerns, it would be best to conduct the fire drills/evacuations at random. Hopefully, senior management will be understanding enough and view safety as a priority. Marie

Posted By Ken Urquhart Steve. Some thoughts for your Fire procedure concerns. For the regular testing. If you think that complacency is a risk then with managements agreement, have nominees, personnel from different departments, and if you have a Safety Committee and Safety Reps, different Safety Reps and or Safety Committee members as well join whoever does the tests. If management are uncooperative then encourage the topic as a regular agenda item at your Safety Committee meetings, (which hopefully you have) till you get a positive response. Explain to the nominee observers the reasons for the test. Explain/Demonstrate the Alarm system. Place groups at different points around the premises where the alarm sounders are located to check audibility. Have the nominees monitor the personnels reaction if any when the alarm is audibly tested. Ensure that your nonimee observers see the alarm test details recorded and emphasise that they are evidence of a good, basic and responsible management record of your Fire Procedure. When you have these Alarm tests, use different remote call points to trigger the alarm so that you test the call point as well as the sounder. Again emphasise this aspect to your observing nominees. This may all sound a bit paternalistic but there is no doubt in my experience that involvement generates awareness which generates ownership. Invite Senior Managers/Directors or the Chief Executve at least once per year to join the alarm test check, (Make sure that the personnel know you have invited them and make sure that they, the seniors, know that all the personnel know that you have, Then let these senior people demonstrate their corporate commitment to their responsibilities. If you have a company Newsletter or a House magazine or an Intranet then occassionally publicise these events, use photos and brief reports to show fellow personnel actively involved in safety matters. Also I don't know what size and scope of business you are involved with, and I don't know what your location is, but consider: Do you use your Alarm solely for FIRE Warning? Have you any Security Policy in place which addresses Threat or neighbourhood external incidents in adjoining premises which might mean that you have to evacuate your personnel? If you treat your ALARM system as the Trigger for Fire and EMERGENCY you broaden not only the scope of the system but the value of it and you need even more to have peolple understand the purpose and value of the Alarm System to there personal Safety. For the sceptics around who think Threat and Riot and neighbourhood problems don't happen, just look at the cases of recent civil unrest in the UK. There are all sorts of reasons for businesses large and small to be targeted for THREAT and even the smallest business should have some basic policy in place even if it is only to deal with a suspect package. I once had a situation where a chemical tanker was involved in a major traffic accident on the dual carriageway immediately outside the companies premises. As a result of leaking chemical and hazardous fumes we were instructed by the Police and The Fire authorities to urgently evacuate everybody very rapidly and to shut down our premises. The Fire Alarm system was used because we had planned it in as an Emergency Warning system as well. That incident certainly threw up a few weaknesses in our system and procedures which we were able to address and re-train everybody about afterwards. And it sure did change peoples attitudes to alarms, practice drills and evacuation's but of course you don't really want the event to be the influencer if you can help it. I hope these thoughts are of help. Regards. Ken

Posted By Frank Cooper Steve, For alarm tests I recommend "the same time same day" policy. Number each call point and test from a different one each time. Fire Evacuation Drills should be carried out at least annually and even six monthly in some instances. Don't forget to record these operations in a fire logbook. Make sure your building Fire Instructions contain the relevant details. One further point worth mentioning is looking after people who work shifts or weekends. In the past I have come across night workers who have had no idea at all what the fire alarm in a building sounds like! This applies equally to security people or cleaning staff who may be your own employees or contractors. Your building Fire Risk Assessment should deal with the issue as a whole. Hope this helps, Frank Cooper

Posted By Annetta Maslen Re: emergency evacuation I have always taken the view that fire drills should be random and unannounced - however, my Local Fire Brigade have strongly advised that a pre-warning of a fire drill is given to occupants in order to reduce the likelyhood of injury during a fire drill. Any views/comments on this approach would be welcomed!

Posted By Ken Urquhart A response to Annettas request for any views. I have successfully run Fire Drills in the past where although advance notice was given, the notice was minimal. eg. There will be a Fire Drill or as I prefer to call them an Emergency Evacuation Drill on - and state the Day/Date - No time and No other detail being given. This means that people know something will happen but are not sitting around ready to participate because they know that at exactly 10am or 2pm the Alarms will go off. When selecting days and times for Drills dont just have them in the summer months, and at mid morning or mid aftrnoon times which creates a comfort factor. Whilst it would be nice to have a drill on a wet day or a winters afternoon just as the light is fading and artifical light is coming into its own that might be a bit cruel and one has to consider overall safety in and of an exercise drill, nonetheless, the more realisim that you can put into the event the more meaningful it is for the participants, and the learning seems to stick. And don't be put off by management saying, oh, you can't have a practice evacuation drill on that day or this day because we are having very important visitors to the premises. Question, if they are clients or officials, has your companies Health & Safty and Environmental policies played a part in any of the negotiations that you are or have had in the run up to securing or doing business with or on behalf of these visitors. Here is an ideal PR and marketing tool for you to truly demonstrate your policies and procedures in action , have the evacuation practice when they are at your premises and have them participate. Another tactic to add realism and have the evacuees begining to wonder is, with your Fire/Emergency Wardens, all pre-briefed,and sworn to secrecy, close off one of the regular Emergency Exits. Station a couple of your Wardens on the route to the particular Exit and have them instruct evacuees that that is where the Danger is and that they must find an alternative exit. This helps test peoples familiarity with the premises. Rmember, and during Emergency evacuation Trainings people should be reminded of this: That they won't always necessarily stay in one part of the builing or premises all of the time all day every day. Some day when there is an Emergency they may be at the opposite end of the building to that in which they are normally located. They wont have time to and anyway can't go back to there base to evacuate via what might be there normal route, and, the Danger, the purpose of the evacuation may very well be on the route that they would like to take back to there normal work base. They can of course once safely exited, go to there normal assembly and roll call point. This further tests the individuals knowledge of the exterior of the premises and demonstrates to them the varied local topography. It also tests Roll call and checking systems as some of the evacuees denied their normal Exit route may well struggle and end up being counted by another roll call check point and then delaying the final check tally and head count until all check point roll call details have been double checked. Another option that I have used successfully has been to involve the local Fire Brigade. They join the Drill by turning out with crew and appliances and treating the operation as a familiarisation test for your premises. They check things like hydrant points, water availability, access restictions and difficulty for apliances, Overhead hazards, ease of access for ladders, turntables etc. Whilst the appliances run silently at normal speed to your prmises, pre planning with the Station and or Divisional Commander means that the surprise element can be achieved. As your personnel are evacuating, one or two Fire appliances roll through your premises gates or pull up outside the building with fully kitted crew and a short sharp blast on the two tones. This certainly wakens up the Evacuees and hopefully the companies senior managers, Directors, Chief excutive who MUST also be participants in the Drill. Nobody is quite sure whether or not there is an incident, and it really makes people think. My experiences also showed that the Fire Brigade benefitted because they identified local difficulties or quirks about your premises and your processes and personnel, all really useful stuff should the real thing ocur. Hope this is of interest and use.