Single stage evacuation is also known as

The most common form of evacuation policy for small buildings, businesses, schools and apartments, an all-out policy is usually the best option for small buildings for several reasons.

Whilst many people may have taken part in a fire drill in their lifetime, few of us have ever actually been involved in an emergency fire evacuation. Whilst you may assume that the procedure is the same no matter what the situation is, there are actually several different types of fire evacuation procedures which are important to understand if you work in a building or location that you may have to evacuate in the event of a fire. Some fire evacuations procedures only really apply to hospitals or care homes where evacuating residents cannot be done in one simple stage. Others are required when simultaneous evacuation may result in injury or delays if everyone tries to leave a building at once, causing more problems than the fire itself. Fire evacuation is the process of removing all people from an area in the event of a fire in order to prevent any harm or damage to their health. If a significant fire starts in a building then one of the most common health and safety procedures is to evacuate so that there is no danger of anyone getting injured from the flames or smoke.

Single stage evacuation is also known as

This topic covers the fire safety evacuation arrangements that will be required in a general practice building to ensure compliance with the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order in England and Wales and equivalent legislation in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Detailed information on fire prevention and on conducting a fire risk assessment can be found in the Fire Safety: Risk Assessment and Prevention topic. Details about the design of practice buildings can be found in the topic on Fire Safety Building Design. Details about fire-fighting equipment, alarms and detection systems can be found in the topic on Fire Extinguishers, Detection and Alarm Systems. Employers, landlords or occupiers of workplace buildings have a general duty of care to provide a safe working environment. Primary care managers should ensure that emergency fire evacuation procedures are clear and follow national good practice. In the event of the fire alarm being sounded, the designated fire safety manager or fire wardens should:. During evacuation, one member of staff, usually the designated fire safety manager or a fire warden, should be responsible for checking the nominal role and ensuring that everybody is accounted for in the assembly area. The names of any missing persons must be reported immediately to the officer in charge of the first fire appliance to arrive. Staff should attempt to fight a minor fire with suitable fire-fighting equipment but only once the alarm has been sounded and provided they can do so without personal risk. Fire-fighting equipment is designed only for use against small or minor fires and major firefighting should be left to professional firefighters.

The decision whether to implement a fire all-out policy is a complex choice for designated fire safety experts and property owners, and it should be made on a case-by-case basis with advice from an approved contractor. The reason that this kind of evacuation procedure exists is that in some locations, such as theatres, shopping centres or stations, single stage evacuation is also known as, sounding a fire alarm to evacuate could cause mass panic and movement that could lead to more harm.

The fire evacuation strategy should come out of the fire risk assessment findings. In very tall or complex buildings, this might have involved a full fire engineering process through BS by a competent fire engineer. The strategy might itself need to be complex, such as keeping escape routes clear with smoke control systems or with the use of firefighting lifts for evacuation. However, Britain has a limited number of premises requiring such unusual measures, so most could use an off-the-peg arrangement, ie one of a few proven systems that are relatively easy to set up and manage. These solutions do not require excessive planning, training or justification as to their use, as they have worked for many decades.

Different buildings have different strategies to evacuate people in the event of a fire depending on their layout. As a simple strategy that is easy to follow, it makes sense to employ this within most premises. One out, all out policies are typically seen within small premises, such as small businesses. Having a smaller building to evacuate and a smaller amount of people evacuating makes this policy simple to follow in this type of environment. Depending on your building type or the type of residents, you may choose to utilise different fire evacuation strategies. A single-stage evacuation is used where a building is small enough for this straightforward option to be effective, but not all buildings will benefit. This is done to help firefighters reach a fire more quickly where occupants trying to evacuate en masse may affect their ability to reach it. If a building is large enough that occupants can be far enough away from the fire that they are not in danger, it can be wiser to employ this policy. There are many more policies for different building types and structures that may be better suited to you.

Single stage evacuation is also known as

Emergency scenarios are never ideal, but it is always important to prepare for one. The more prepared you are for an emergency, the less likely you are to have reoccurring crises. If you live or work with someone who has limited mobility, it is essential that all the necessary emergency precautions are put in place for a safe evacuation.

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The business should also have a designated safe meeting place outside the building where occupants can be gathered and accounted for. The role of the IFPO is to promote the advancement of fire safety education generally and to support and maintain high professional standards amongst its members. For managers fire drills can also be used to assess whether training has been understood and to determine whether there are flaws in the evacuation procedure, particularly any specific procedures for vulnerable groups and special features of the premises or work activities. The use of an outside space as an assembly area may not be appropriate, particularly in the winter when there may be a risk of hypothermia, and an alternative building identified. Guidance supporting the Care Certificate states that new care home staff must make sure that they familiarise themselves with the specific procedures operating within the home. A number of sophisticated access control systems are now available that, in the event of an alarm being activated, allow a roll-call list to be quickly printed. As we have seen, a successful evacuation system is achieved by an amalgamation of several areas in fire safety: a competent fire risk assessment leading to a practical fire strategy; the simplest evacuation procedure that will meet the needs of the occupants and business; a fire alarm system that can manage such a procedure; an ongoing training programme to match staff needs; and finally management of all the above, ideally by a dedicated fire manager in larger premises. A well trained team of responders — such as I was fortunate to manage at a large government facility — can minimise the disruption by speedy identification of false alarms or tackling any small fire at an early stage that other trained staff in the area have not dealt with. You will often see fire safety signs and symbols in workplaces, shops, tourist attractions and other places but do you know what they mean and the requirements to have them? Under the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order , and equivalent legislation, the responsible person for fire safety in any workplace is the employer provided the workplace is to any extent under their control.

The fire evacuation strategy should come out of the fire risk assessment findings. In very tall or complex buildings, this might have involved a full fire engineering process through BS by a competent fire engineer.

Special considerations in care homes The level of dependence or vulnerability of residents will be a key factor in any care home evacuation plan. Records of drills should be kept. However, the welfare and safety of residents should be considered at all stages and some pre-arranged staff will have to stay in the home to perform care while the drill is carried out. Dutyholders with responsibility for buildings must provide the employer of any person from an outside organisation who is working in the premises eg agencies providing temporary staff with clear and relevant information on the risks to those employees and preventive and protective measures. The use of a specific fire safety file to keep fire safety records in one place and readily accessible is recommended. If there is a suspicion that the alarm system is malfunctioning, specialist help should be sought. The BRE provides consultancy, testing and commissioned research services covering all aspects of the built environment and associated industries. In large buildings, more than one assembly point may have to be provided. Details about the design of practice buildings can be found in the topic on Fire Safety Building Design. A consideration for care home managers in the evacuation of frail residents is the provision of a shelter where residents can be evacuated to. Sign up today. A wider selection of devices is usually available in addressable systems, with multi-sensors or multi-criteria type being extremely useful. Having a logical and clearly thought out evacuation plan in place that is easy to read and has been communicated to all staff will help to ensure that any evacuation is organised and panic-free. According to the guidance all care services should have a fire safety policy in place which includes clear procedures for the safe evacuation of buildings during an emergency.