7.4 Fire Drill Information For Area Safety Managers
Fire Practices Are The Responsibility Of Area Safety Managers
- There is a legal responsibility for the University to carry out fire practices twice. It is a University requirement that two fire drills are done annually for all buildings. One drill should be carried out at the beginning of the academic year, ie. October each year, and the second carried out early in the calendar New Year ie. January or February.
- All results must be recorded in writing using the standardised Fire Practice Record form which must be retained in the Departmental/School Health and Safety file. A copy of the report must also be forwarded to the University SHE Office immediately after each practice.
- Fire alarms at Newton Park are automatic and linked to the Fire Station. When it is intended to hold a practice, it is necessary to first contact Property Services in order that the system is taken off-line and a member of the maintenance staff joins the monitoring staff to activate the alarm.
- At Sion Hill the system is not connected directly to The Fire and Rescue Service. Property Services need to be contacted to activate the alarms.
- Routine checks - a brief sounding of 10-15 seconds - of the alarm systems are carried out by maintenance staff every week at a regular specific time.
- Instructions detailing what action is required by staff and students when alarms sound are set out on the blue and white Fire Action notices throughout the University. These same notices also highlight the nearest Assembly Point.
- Fire extinguishers are strategically placed for emergency use only. These are serviced on an annual basis by a specialist contractor. However, if an extinguisher has been discharged, the Property Services Office must be informed immediately so that the extinguisher can be replaced as soon as possible by maintenance staff.
- All staff are supplied during their Induction programme with Fire Instructions. The guidance should always be followed and priority given to life rather than property during an emergency
- Emergency exit routes are marked with Green signs depicting a running person and an arrow to showing the direction for safe evacuation
- Area Safety Managers must ensure that all their staff are familiar with evacuation procedures and the position of Fire Exit Routes in all areas within which they operate, as well as the location of all associated Fire Assembly Points
- Area Safety Managers should reinforce the fire evacuation procedures at least annually with their staff. Lecturers should be reminded that when the Fire Alarm sounds it is their responsibility to evacuate their class promptly via the emergency Fire escape route and to gather at the designated Fire Assembly Point
- Line Managers should ensure that their staff who have any disability / handicap, even if it a temporary condition, that could impede their exit from the building, are aware of the safety arrangements to safeguard such staff.
- All staff must know their responsibilities set out in (c) and (d) above and draw the attention of all their students to the existence and purpose of escape routes as in (b) for that area and the precaution in (e) above
- It is recommended that at least one of the annual Fire Practices should be conducted with all Main normal Exits blocked off during the practice, in order that personnel are alerted to the Alternative (Fire) Emergency Escape Routes
- Buildings should be evacuated within two and a half minutes. If this target clearance time is not met, another practice should be organised within the next two weeks.
- Fire Safety Inspections are undertaken by local Fire Wardens once per month. All fire appliances, fire exit routes, doors etc. are checked as a matter of routine during these inspections to ensure that all systems are in place. A simple signed record of this check should be submitted to the Area Safety Manager for signature and retention in the Departmental/School health and safety file. A copy should also be sent to the SHE office.
Revised September 2011