The Explainer: How do conduct a fire drill
Our ten-step process to nailing this important emergency management planning procedure
Every facility in Australia must conduct a trial evacuation exercise at least once every 12 months, but only one in four workers know what actions they are required to take in an emergency.
Conducting regular emergency exercises has multiple benefits:
Your staff gain confidence in the actions they must take in an emergency
Everyone becomes familiar with where the assembly area is located and how to get there
Your wardens and relevant personnel can identify improvement opportunities with the emergency procedures
You maintain compliance with health and safety legislation
Practise makes perfect - in an emergency situation you don't want people making mistakes that could result in the loss of property or life
Preparation for and conducting fire drills can also leverage micro-learning and online tools, whether it’s a personalised facility micro-learning lesson on the fire drill process, or an evacuation checklist – technology can be your friend to make trial fire drills a seamless part of your emergency management planning.
To conduct a trial evacuation of your workplace you should follow these ten steps:
Plan ahead – Leverage your online learning tools to prepare your staff well ahead of time. When the time is right, schedule the trail evacuation into your calendar so you know well in advance when it is due.
Communicate - Advise occupants of an approximate time of the planned trial evacuation (if appropriate). This is a good opportunity to remind everyone of the location of the assembly area.
Review - Ensure the Chief Warden and Emergency Control Organisation has reviewed the evacuation procedures, and that previous evacuation records are checked.
Encourage active participation - Encourage all occupants to attend and to take it seriously.
Pre-announce the trial evacuation - If your facility has an EWIS system, the Chief Warden should make a voice announcement through the EWIS to advise everyone that the trial evacuation is about to commence.
Add an element of surprise if safe to do so - By simulating a danger in a controlled environment (at one exit route, for example), people will have to re-think their next best safe option. This level of engagement can also assist with recall.
Ensure wardens take their actions - Have the wardens respond as they would during a real emergency - wear the correct identification, check their areas, roll call or headcount at the assembly area etc.
Debrief with appropriate personnel - Thank everyone at the assembly area for participating and follow up with a meeting of all wardens to identify any improvement opportunities.
Record the trial evacuation - Enter a record of the trial evacuation and any contemporaneous notes in the appropriate document management system (this could be a folder, an FEP or similar).
Ensure any areas of improvement are actioned - If any problems were encountered during the trial evacuation, ensure they are remedied as a high priority - you never know when the real deal will strike.
We’re passionate about emergency preparedness and we are delighted to have worked with many clients to improve their emergency response capabilities.
Reach out to discuss your requirements today.
Contact us today: admin@safety-101.com