04 July 2008
Dennis Davis

Numerous research projects following major incidents - including the September 11 attacks in New York - have concluded the importance of evacuation drills can't be overstated, and that many workers take home the safety lessons they learn in the workplace.

Training staff on how to safely evacuate the workplace is not just a legal requirement; it's essential if staff are to become familiar with the practicalities of using escape routes and procedures so they can evacuate efficiently in a real emergency under what may be stressful conditions.

Frequent fire drills ensure that evacuation procedures are comprehensively and competently assessed as being fit for the purpose of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order.

All inclusive

Employee induction should cover emergency evacuation of the premises and you should hold evacuation drills at least once, and preferably twice, a year for all staff on all shifts.

Of course this rule-of-thumb won't fit in all workplaces, and your fire risk assessment should determine whether hazards in your premises call for more frequent drills. In workplaces where fire may spread rapidly, because of process risks or the materials you use or store, and in very large open-space-type premises such as warehouses, it's advisable to conduct more regular (quarterly) drills.

Rapid turnover of staff or regular changes to the escape routes, assembly areas or procedures - on a developing building site, for example - might necessitate regular renewal of the evacuation procedure. Any significant change (a completely new route, assembly area, roll-call or search procedure) should prompt a practice drill.

It's important that the process of training and practice captures all staff, and the names of any absentees should be noted so they can be advised later. Training should emphasise employees' personal responsibility for helping ensure their own safety; employees returning from extended absence, for example, should be proactive in finding out from their manager about any changes in emergency procedures.

State your aims

Before conducting a drill, be clear what your aims are so you can measure its success. Often the objective will be for staff to gain familiarity with the procedure and to ensure it still works as expected. At other times the aim may be to test secondary lighting systems, try out different escape routes or check whether training (in the use of portable fire extinguishers, for example) has been effective.

Evacuation procedures may have to cater for events other than fires, such as bomb threats, and any variation in process must be clearly understood. A drill to practise emergency procedures in the event of a bomb threat, for example, may require staff to stay in the building or to evacuate but gather in a different area.

In retail premises and public-access buildings it may not be practicable to carry out a complete evacuation during opening hours. But most workplaces can and do organise regular company training sessions, with adequate notice to staff, customers and visitors (if there is to be a store closure, for example). Using some of this time to practise evacuation - before the premises open or after they close - is sensible, and using staff in the public role can add realism.

In all cases where public access is permitted, it's important to remember to cater for people with impaired mobility, vision or hearing. In some cases, use of refuges may be appropriate.

Those responsible for fire safety should take particular care to ensure employees who are responsible for others (staff in care homes, teachers) and those who may face difficult personal decisions (such as staff in a department store where there are large numbers of customers including parents and children) are well informed on how to react and what actions are appropriate. They will need particular support to ensure they understand - and are able to resolve - conflicts where their responsibility for the safety of others and their own personal safety coincide.

Out in the cold

Evacuation practice should cover all the aspects that combine to make the procedure robust and safe. Staff need instruction and practice on escape facilities; what action they should take to secure their own and others' safety; and what actions are essential, desired and unwanted.

Evacuation drills should be scheduled at different times of day and under different natural light conditions, and should cover the various conditions and uses of the premises. You will need to consider those stacking shelves, cleaning offices or packing perishable goods overnight in just the same way as you do daytime staff. 

Avoiding bad weather is sensible. It's one thing to be stood outside in your shirt in the summer waiting for the manager to allow everyone to return; it's quite another in mid-January. Staff forced to stand outside in sub-zero temperatures or driving rain are more likely to remember the weather than the lessons of the drill.

If your staff need extra motivation to participate with enthusiasm, consider combining the drill with practical talks on the use of extinguishers or lectures from fire service personnel. Other incentives include scheduling drills so that staff can leave work a few minutes early, and financial bonuses for floor fire wardens. Poor weather, a slow roll-call and failure to ask staff for their feedback are the worst offenders and best avoided.

You should carry out a risk assessment before the drill, especially where you believe unfamiliar or new staff will be taking part, and routes should be checked in case contractors or others have disturbed them or routine maintenance has introduced new hazards (this kind of check should form part of ongoing fire safety management procedures).

In most workplaces there are alternative exit routes (as well as the usual public or staff exits) to ensure that in the event of fire preventing escape in one direction, a true alternative exists - one that's unlikely to be blocked by smoke and flames. It's crucial that staff use these routes in practice drills so they are confident about opening fire doors and using any stairways provided solely for escape. This is particularly true where there are exposed fire escapes that may start several storeys up. From time to time in larger workplaces, and to help employees become familiar with unusual routes, it's worthwhile directing staff to leave the building at the end of the day by a route normally only used for emergency evacuation, or through a part of the building not normally used.

In a department store or large manufacturing site, staff might be unfamiliar with leaving work through another department even though the route is in regular use and forms part of the evacuation plan. Asking them to exit the building in this way encourages confidence without disrupting business.

Remember, though, that using these unfamiliar routes can compromise normal workplace security, as you may have to deactivate security alarms or open perimeter gates. It's obviously important to plan for and mitigate these risks, with the help of security staff. Similarly, issues may arise if staff have to transit another occupier's premises to leave their own premises by an alternative route.

If evacuation is practised in this way, you can progressively identify all likely difficulties and improve procedures to ensure the effectiveness of the whole evacuation policy.

While it isn't necessary to go as far as using synthetic smoke to add realism to any practice evacuation, it's important that staff are aware (under safe and controlled training conditions) of what they might expect to face in an emergency. So, for example, you might decide to carry out a drill using lower internal lighting to simulate loss of electrical power in a fire involving the main electrical intakes. Some staff might need their colleagues' help to overcome practical physical difficulties, either because of permanent or temporary impairments, and it would be reasonable to cover this eventuality.

On a roll

A drill should start with sounding the fire alarm and then follow the set fire routine as fully as circumstances allow.

Visitors, customers and other guests should be involved, as they would be if the procedure was real. It's a good idea to give them advance notice to gain goodwill and minimise disruption and anxiety.

No-notice evacuations need careful planning to manage the additional hazards, such as anxiousness and urgency. Such drills are generally reserved for workplaces that have both a highly trained and disciplined workforce, and very hazardous activities.

Managers need to ensure that the sounding of the fire alarm for a practice drill doesn't bring the fire and rescue service - a point to be remembered for all fire alarm tests.

Staff with designated tasks involving the fire and rescue service - transmitting the emergency call, confirming automatic alarm calls or liaising with the fire service officer on arrival - must understand the emergency telephone system, the type of questions they are likely to be asked and the level of detail they need to give, especially for confirming a successful evacuation. 

It's advisable to "call the roll" since the ultimate purpose of the drill is to identify that everyone escaped. That said, if the aim is to simply test unfamiliar routes you might do without - the important point is to be clear as to what you're doing and why. So if on a Friday afternoon close-down the responsible person wants everyone to leave by an unfamiliar escape route, this can be broadcast in advance and a roll-call won't be necessary.

The priority of the fire and rescue service is to save life and, if they are advised that someone has failed to evacuate, they will make the most strenuous rescue efforts. These efforts may involve firefighters in high-risk actions that compromise their own safety. So it's essential that the roll-call is thorough. If anyone remains unaccounted for, the people with knowledge of their last known location and how that location might best be accessed should be available to assist the fire and rescue service.

Target times

At the end of every practice evacuation you should carry out a review to confirm or improve the procedure. Keep a record of each drill, with notes about problems and lessons learned. Record suggestions for improvements and track any follow-up actions to their conclusion or implementation.

Measuring the efficiency of an evacuation often involves setting a target evacuation time. It's impossible to give one maximum evacuation time for all buildings, as a reasonable time will depend on building design and complexity, use, processes, site layout and travel distances. But it's important within any evacuation process to define the time it should take to reach a place of reasonable safety (a protected staircase, for example) and the time it should take to reach a place of safety outside the building that can be used at all times.

People should normally be in a place of relative safety within a range of two to three minutes of the alarm being raised, with shorter times where there is danger of rapid fire spread. The time can be calculated by practice and, through practice, gradually improved.

Emergency events occasionally result in reviews of accepted best practice; this was the case after 9/11 concerning the evacuation of high-rise and complex buildings and the use of lifts. If you are responsible for fire safety, you should make arrangements to stay updated on the latest guidance.

Well drilled

Training on emergency evacuation should cover:

• raising the alarm
• recognising the alarm signal, particularly if different signals are used to alert and evacuate
• calling the fire and rescue service
• operational requirements relating to escape routes, use of lifts, special door-opening devices, escape staircase lighting, and so on
• securing the workplace: people, money, process safety, data security
• search procedures
• fire marshal duties
• reporting concerns and providing information to assist others
• roll-call registers
• staying at the assembly area until released
• inclement weather procedures
• liaising with the fire and rescue service
• return-to-work procedures.

Dennis Davis is chair of the Federation of British Fire Organisations and principal consultant with Independent Fire Advisers, email firstfirecall@aol.com

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Fire, Article, Emergency planning