Posted By Michael D Clarke Looking for opinions of pro's and con's of which system is quicker/more reliable to ensure complete evacuation, fire wardens sweep or roll call?

Posted By shaun mckeever Michael I agree entirely with Nick's response but I would also add one more consideration, that is the ratio of fire wardens to the size of workforce. One fire warden trying to do a roll call of one thousand people is obviously wrong. I would normally recommend one fire warden per 25 people plus sufficient deputies to cover for absences e.g. lunch time, holiday, sickness etc. Best regards Shaun

Posted By Ken Taylor As the others have indicated, you will need to decide what system best suits your own particular circumstances. By way of example, we evacuate all school site buildings and do class and work-group roll-calls (as people could have been almost anywhere in any building and the 'sweep' method would take 'ages' - whereas the 'sweep' method is more suitable for office buildings (where no-one may know whether someone was in or out at the time and some staff might even decide to find their own 'alternative assembly point')

Posted By Nick House Hi Michael It might be worthwhile having a chat with your local Fire Officer. He will more than likely be glad to offer any advice that you may require, and can even offer recommendations tailored to your premises requirements. Regards Nick.

Posted By Jay Joshi I have included an extract from:- "Fire risk management in the workplace : a guide for employers fromthe Fire Protection Association in the Loss Prevention Council's Library of Fire Safety; volume 5" It states:- On reaching the assembly point, the fire warden should report to the chief fire warden, or the designated fire safety official, that their area is clear of people. This is by far the best way of ensuring that the premises have been completely evacuated. The older practice of having a roll-call at the assembly point is of little value in a large organisation. The apparent absence of a particular member of staff does not necessarily indicate that they are still in the building; it could be that they were out to lunch, out on company business or simply absent from work on that day. Having ushered their charges to the assembly point, the fire wardens should ensure that they remain there until the fire officer in charge gives permission for staff to re-enter the building. Ultimately, you have to decide what is the best for you--all that the fire authority is interested in and the legal requirement is your system for:- 1) evacuation 2) in responding to the the fire brigade when it arrives whether there is any person unaccounted for--this is vital as the course of action they will take depends upon this! The sweep system is more reliable and not subject to human error. A roll-call system is dependent upon having an accurate list.