7.6 Action If Fire Alarms Sound At Sion Hill Campus

Information For Staff, Students and Security Guards In Case Of Fire

Alarm goes off.

Reception staff leave the building and make sure the entrance double doors are both open and wait outside with the cordless switchboard phone to receive calls from Fire and Rescue Service.

Fire and Rescue Service may check by phone that the fire is genuine.

Maintenance staff check the Fire Panel in Reception to ascertain the location of the Fire and will check whether the alarm is genuine. If so, they should direct the Fire and Rescue Service vehicle(s) from the gate onto the campus and hand over the Fire Risk Assessment.

Wardens/Marshals should always clear the building and liaise at the Assembly Point at the front of the main building whether the fire is genuine or otherwise.

Fire Wardens have been issued with a whistle in order to improve communications during fire evacuations. The use of a whistle will assist those unfamiliar the location of the Fire Assembly points i.e. contractors, visitors and new students.

On arrival at the Fire Assembly Point a Fire Warden will sound three sharp blasts on the whistle to gain the attention of those evacuating the building. Those exiting the building should safely make their way to the Fire Warden at the Assembly Point, and await further instructions. At this stage any useful information can be passed onto the Fire Warden.

When it is safe to re enter the building a Fire Warden will sound one single extended blast on the whistle - this is the signal that it is safe to renter the building. You should not re enter the buildings until you have been given the signal to do so. In the event of a real fire, this signal will come from the Senior Fire Officer in attendance.

If Fire and Rescue Service receive no cancellation within 3 minutes they will attend automatically - reception staff go to Assembly Point.

If  Maintenance staff ascertain that it is a false alarm, the Fire and Rescue Service can be cancelled and building re-inhabited.

Where the incident is a false alarm and there is no danger, and the Fire and Rescue Service has been cancelled, the Area Safety Manager/Wardens can instruct the assembled people to return back into the building and the Fire Panel should be reset.

If There Is A Genuine Fire, Maintenance Staff Go To The Assembly Point And Liaise With The Fire Wardens/ Area Safety Manager

  1. Confirm that the Fire Brigade will be attending and for everybody to remain at the Assembly Point.
  2. Fire Wardens, to compile a "Situation report" which will state
    • If there are any people likely to be within the confines of the Sion Hill buildings
    • If there are any hazards of which the Fire and Rescue Service need to be aware of eg. gas cylinders etc.

On the arrival of the Fire and Rescue Service, the Area Safety Manager/Warden/Maintenance/ Security Guard will brief the Senior Fire Officer of the situation and guide him to the source of the fire, point out any known hazards and the location of people who are likely to be trapped. The Senior Fire Officer will automatically take charge and be the ONLY authority that can proclaim the buildings safe and instruct that all occupants can be allowed back inside

Fire fighting should only be undertaken by those competent and trained to do so. Remember, people cannot be replaced, buildings can!

September 2011