Fire Risk Assessment News

Fire Evacuation – The End Of One Crisis, But The Beginning Of Another?

Fire Evacuation - The End Of One Crisis, But The Beginning Of Another?

Are you one of those avoiding the issue, probably because it is something you prefer to ignore! Most people would rather be considering more positive things like ways of building the business than facing up to potential disasters that could befall it! But surely, better this than to work by the seat of your pants on the day a crisis strikes or worst still have to explain your actions (or lack of them) to enforcement authorities after!

Also think about your organizations reputation with daily reports in the press detailing incidents and prosecutions. Consider the situation where my elderly mother and her best friend evacuated through the rear fire escape into a side road from a well known department store when the fire alarm sounded. The doors closed behind them and the alarm was quickly silenced. They found themselves locked out, alone in a back road left to walk for a half mile around the building to get back to civilization! Or my wheelchair bound friend who when shopping in a major high street retailer was left to her own devices by staff who evacuated and left her behind on a mezzanine floor after a power cut occurred! Luckily these were minor incidents, but do you think my mum, her friend and my disabled friend and their families have good things to tell people about those retailers?

As you can see, fire is just one aspect of disaster contingency planning, many other incidents can befall the organization ranging from power outages to flooding through to civil disorder and ultimately to acts of terrorism. We encourage our clients to use the fire emergency planning process to prepare for other crises.

Like you, we don’t have a crystal ball to foresee such events but we can through training guide Building Managers into putting into place some simple and low cost general mitigation measures. All of this can be initiated through comprehensive fire training that captivates Fire Wardens and staff who learn to appreciate the importance of prompt evacuation, rapid accounting and welfare of occupants.

Contingency planning and preparation need not be expensive, we have introduced in-situ half day combined Fire Manager, Fire Warden and Staff Fire Awareness training package for small businesses which includes a review of the fire precautions all for as little as £495 + VAT if you are based in the London and Home Counties area. Allowing for staff turnover and people tending to forget quickly, we recommend that training is followed up with a refresher at 12-18 month intervals.

If you would like in-situ fire training suited to your needs, that is both enthralling and educational, please email Alan Palmer at alan@firecontingency.co.ukor call him on 01932 222010 to discuss your training requirements.