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Fire Drills: What Should You Do?
Everybody is talking about fire prevention, fire safety, tips and hints and whatnot ever since the increase in fire accidents. But is that all that we need? Well, they are not exactly all that we need. There is more to it.
No matter where it is, be it at home or in the workplace, we need some form of orderliness. When somebody sees the fire or hears the alarm, they go into a momentary state of shock. It is normal. However, what you did not know is, if you are not trained on what to do, you could actually panic and be in a permanent state of shock.
Can it be avoided? Of course, it can be avoided. According to the UK Fire Rules and Regulations, each organisation is supposed to conduct a fire drill to train its employees on fire safety. If you are an employer, I am sure you are panicky now. Well, here is the good news. We are going to take you through the basics of a fire drill.
It is recommended that every member of staff are involved in this fire drill. However, if this is impossible, there should at least be half of each department present. For example, if there are only two people in a department, it is compulsory for at least one staff member to attend.
During this fire drill exercise, the employer or the operations manager should brief the staff on the layout of the organisation and the emergency exits. It is advisable that each employee is given a hard copy to refer to in terms of an emergency. This should include the emergency escape route and the assembling area.
Apart from the layout briefing, staff should also be trained on how to use the fire fighting equipment. Although the operations manager and team would already be equipped with this knowledge, teaching more people could save even more lives. They should be educated on the different types of fire fighting equipment and their purpose. This is to ensure that they use the correct fire fighting equipment.
What we have just covered relates to acquiring knowledge. To ensure that your employees really know what to do, a false alarm should be set. It is called a table top exercise whereby the operations team will test the employees' readiness and responsiveness. Based on this exercise, analysis can be drawn and improvements can be made during future fire drills and table top exercises.
Practice makes perfect. As such it is important to carry out these exercises once every six months. Nobody knows when a fire will break-out. Stay vigilant always!
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