Why Are Fire Drills Important?

Many commercial, and some residential, buildings will have mandatory fire safety procedures in place for the protection of the buildings and its occupants in the event of a fire outbreak. As part of those established fire safety procedures will be a fire risk assessment, the results of which will lead to establishing a relevant and robust fire emergency plan. The emergency plan will include the regular testing of the fire procedures through the performing of fire drills – these drills are to ensure that staff, visitors or any occupants of the building understand what they need to do in the event of a fire outbreak to test how effective your evacuation plan is, and to identify any weaknesses in, or improvements to, the established fire safety provision. These fire risk assessments and fire drills will identify any areas of fire safety that may need updating, improving, or replacing – any breach of these rules can result in fines, imprisonment but, more importantly, potential personal injury to occupants and staff, and even loss of life!

Fire Drills

A fire drill is effectively a simulation or ‘practice run’ of what would potentially be an emergency situation within a building in the event of a fire outbreak. Its purpose is to recreate a situation and test the established procedures for how the building could be most effectively evacuated and how the  occupiers act or behave in this instance. When initiating a fire drill, all involved should treat the exercise as a genuine emergency – trained fire wardens or appointed officers for the building should be present and guiding all occupants to the identified fire exits and to a predefined assembly point a safe distance from the building. It is usual to make staff and building occupants aware in advance that a fire drill is to be performed at the specified date and time but, on occasions, may be initiated on an impromptu basis in order to more realistically recreate an emergency situation and better test the response of the people inside the building and the procedures in place.

Regularity 

Different environments may perform fire drills more, or less frequently, based on the building’s function, the occupants involved and the level of assumed risk, but ALL buildings should be performing fire drills on a regular basis at the very least once per year! Fire drills should involve all staff members, which may necessitate more frequent or ‘staggered’ tests to ensure that every staff member has at least one involvement in the process. Any new staff joining an organisation should be instructed in the established fire drill procedures as part of their company induction and all staff should be made aware of any changes in the fire risk assessment to the building and any changes invoked to the fire drills already in place.

In a simulated test there should be no need for panic or fear within the occupants, and they should walk calmly to the designated emergency exit points, but the procedures should cater for unexpected delays or more frenzied activity in the event of a genuine emergency – the fire drills should be performed regularly enough for all occupants to know exactly what to do and where to go and to avoid rushing. Depending on the size of the building and its functions there should a defined minimum acceptable time for a full evacuation to be completed and the fire drills should work within these timings.

Importance Of Fire Drills

When performing a fire drill your staff should ensure that they themselves and all customers and visitors to the building should leave the building calmly and quickly. They should be aware of the exact placement of their nearest defined emergency fire exit, the location of the allocated assembly points, who are the appointed fire wardens, and who is responsible for taking the register once outside to ensure that all occupants have safely evacuated the building. To make the simulations more realistic, you may introduce some unexpected hazards such as a blocked stairway or access point, which will force your staff to adapt and make their way to alternative exit points.

Fire Equipment

Another major important part of the fire drill will be to test the on-site fire detection and safety equipment – fire detection and alarm systems, fire exit signage visibility, emergency lighting, and the access to, and effectiveness of, fire doors should be tested during these events. You would not discharge fire extinguishers during these drills, but they do need to be regularly maintained and checked to ensure that they are fully functional in the event of a fire emergency.

Other Considerations 

Plans should always be in place for assistance for any occupants who may have impaired mobility – relevant staff members involved in the fire drill procedures must be aware of their roles in these instances, and there should always be written instructions for the fire drill and all relevant personnel mindful of their responsibilities in ensuring safety for ALL occupants.

All business premises should have regular fire safety checks and all fire equipment checked by qualified technicians – companies that perform regular fire drills will be much better prepared in the event of a fire outbreak and that may be the difference between injury or even fatalities of their staff and building occupants!