How to create...
A Fire
Evacuation
Plan
Your Fire Evacuation Plan
Every business should have a fire
evacuation plan that is tailored to the
company, building and employees. Please
use this as a guide and amend in relation to
your own premises and procedures.
Purpose of a Fire Evacuation Plan
A fire evacuation plan helps to ensure the safe evacuation of and accounting for
persons from a premise or location in the event of a fire.
The purpose of a fire evacuation plan is to ensure that adequate arrangements are in
place for a safe evacuation of all employees and other persons that may need to leave
the area or premises in the event of a fire.
Fire Evacuation Elements
A fire evacuation plan should include, as a minimum, details on:
1.
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12.
Keeping an up-to-date Register
Actions employees should take on discovering a fire
How employees will be warned (alarm systems)
Evacuation of the building
Identification of escape routes
Fire Fighting equipment
Duties of employees with specific responsibilities
Safety of visitors/contractors/people with disabilities
Contacting and liaising with the fire brigade
Roll Call
Maintenance
Staff training
1. Keeping an Up-to-Date Register
It’s imperative that a list of people in the building is kept up-to-date on a daily basis.
This is crucial to ensure everyone is accounted for in the event of a fire.
Create a register that employees have to tick to show their attendance daily, and keep a
separate one in the reception area for visitors.
2. Upon Discovering a Fire
• Immediately operate the nearest alarm call-point
• Attack the fire if possible, with appliances available, without taking personal risks
• Fire action notice signs should be displayed at fire call points, exits, on notice boards and
in communal areas such as staff rooms to communicate with employees
3. Warning Others
How will people be warned in there is a fire?
Every employer must ensure that they have an appropriate
system or arrangements for raising the alarm in the event
of a fire or upon discovery of a fire.
This can range from the absolute minimum of a person
discovering a fire shouting “Fire” to raise the alarm to a
fully automatic system with detectors placed in strategic
locations that activate the alarm sounders, close
ventilation ducts, open smoke vents, close fire doors,
trigger fire suppression equipment and alert a monitoring
facility or the fire brigade direct via dedicated phone lines.
The type of system required will be dependent on the
circumstances of the premises and the nature of the
activities undertaken on the premises.
4. Evacuation of the Building
•Everyone in the building should leave
the building by the nearest exit
•Close all doors behind you
•Report to the designated fire assembly
point
5. Identification of Escape Routes
Escape routes are the routes that persons will take to safely evacuate a premises or
location and reach a place of safety away from a fire
These routes may have some level of protection, e.g. partitioning and fire doors to hold
back the fire whilst persons are evacuating and may be internal to a building or external.
Signage
Signage is essential in a fire evacuation plan to ensure that individuals know which are
the safe routes for evacuating a premise, raising the alarm, using fire fighting equipment
etc. Therefore Escape Routes should be signed indicating direction of travel, and
emergency exits with a push bar should be signed indicating how to open the door.
Emergency Lighting
Emergency lighting is provided in situations where in the event of a fire the route to a
place of safety may be made more difficult by smoke from the fire or where normal
artificial lighting has failed as a result of the fire or other circumstances.
6. Fire Fighting Equipment
Fire extinguishers are usually located in circulation areas and near fire exit
doors.
The means to fight a fire varies according to need, from hand held portable
extinguishers that are designed to fight specific types of fire, such as CO2 for
electrical fires to fully automatic systems, such as sprinkler installations.
7. Duties of Employees with Specific Responsibilities
On hearing the alarm:
All staff will usher visitors out of the building and assemble at the muster point.
Fire wardens will ensure:
• Their areas are cleared of people
• Registers are collected on the way out
• The Fire Brigade is called
• A roll call is made to ensure everyone is out
8. Safe Evacuation of People at Risk
There needs to be arrangements for the safe evacuation of people identified as being especially
at risk, such as contractors, those with disabilities, members of the public and visitors.
Visitors: The host/employee must take responsibility for any visitor they may have and ensure
they leave the building by the nearest exit.
Contractors: must be given information about fire procedures and leave the building at the
nearest exit.
People with disabilities: Specific arrangements may need to be made for those with disabilities.
These arrangements may be made with the assistance of the Area Health and Safety Advisor.
9. Contacting/Liaising with the Fire Brigade
How will the Fire Brigade and any necessary
emergency services be called and who will be
responsible for doing this?
On hearing the alarm (fill space) will Dial 999 and
ask for the Fire Brigade or other emergency service
as appropriate.
Fire Wardens will call the Fire Brigade in the absence
of (fill space) (this may be best achieved using a
mobile phone)
Procedures for liasing with the Fire Brigade on
arrival and notifying them of any specific risks, e.g.
the location of highly flammable materials.
(fill space) or other member of the Fire Wardens will
liase with the Fire Brigade on their arrival.
10. Roll Call
Assembly Point
An Assembly Point should be selected that is well away from the premises, is accessible
without needing to cross busy traffic routes and not located where it will impede the access
of the emergency services. It should also be located where if the need arises individuals can
be moved easily to another location if required by the emergency services without affecting
the fire fighting operation.
Roll Call
Upon arrival at an assembly point a headcount/roll call will be necessary to establish that all
individuals have evacuated safely from the building. This information may be used to inform
the fire service that all persons are present and accounted for or if it is thought there is
anybody missing and may require their entry into the building to locate the missing person.
In order for a roll call to be effective it is imperative that an up-to-date list of persons who
were in the building at the time of the alarm is available at the assembly point.
11. Maintenance
Maintenance Arrangements
There must be suitable arrangements for ensuring that equipment is maintained and is
available for use at all times. All equipment must be kept free from obstruction and
where necessary, visible at all times.
Alarm systems, emergency lighting, portable fire extinguishers, hose reels, sprinkler
systems, gas flooding systems etc. will require servicing and maintenance by a
competent engineer.
Fire doors require regular checking to ensure that they will close fully on release and or
operation of automatic closers.
Final exit doors that are not in frequent use must be regularly checked to ensure they
will open freely and that they only require a single action to open. They should also be
checked to verify that additional security measures have been removed/disabled during
normal occupied periods for example bolts, padlocks etc.
12. Staff Training
The following training is recommended to staff:
All staff: Fire Drills minimum once a year but ideally three times a year
All staff: Fire briefing once a year (maybe in conjunction with fire drill)
Fire Warden training: For designated fire wardens
Record of training to be kept within fire manual.
Training to reviewed on a yearly basis and planned into budget.
Fire Safety Statement
In the event of fire, the safety of life shall
override all other considerations, such as
saving property and extinguishing the fire.