Emergency Planning | Complete Fire Safety Management

Complete Fire Safety Management is all about ensuring that you have the tools necessary to ensure you meet all legal requirements and, most importantly, that your working environment or residential space is safe for workers, visitors and occupants.

An Emergency Plan is an essential part of what CFSM has to offer and in this blog article, we will give an overview of the thought processes required to compile your own.

Why is a workplace emergency plan necessary?

The purpose of the workplace emergency plan is primarily seen as two fold;

The plan is legally required to be fully documented and kept in the workplace such that it is available for all employees, and employee’s representatives (where appointed), to view at all times. This ‘documentation’ usually takes the form of what is commonly termed the company Fire Manual/procedures etc.

How do we ensure employees/residents know of the plan?

As a result of the plan’s ‘company-wide’ implications, it is anticipated that it should form the basis of the core curriculum contents of any fire related training/instruction package provided by the employer.

The degree to which the plan is developed/managed is dependent upon the size and nature of the organisation. For small workplaces (i.e. those employing under five people) the formal explanation and display of a standard fire action notice, at its appropriate locations, may suffice. However, for more complex buildings or organisations, your plan may need to be more comprehensive and specific to the inhabitants needs.

You should note that if the building under review is shared with other employers or occupiers, the emergency plan should be developed in consultation with those employers and/or owner(s) of that area of the building.

The provision of regular staff training is essential for all employees (this should include those working on the premises outside the usual hour’s e.g. cleaners, security etc.) to reinforce the important issues raised in the emergency plan. However, it is important that the staff members see the information provided to them as relevant and applicable to the everyday situation in which they find themselves. To this end, the information should be provided in a manner that all employees can understand, taking into account those with learning difficulties or those to whom English is not their first language.

Additional training may be required if the site is sufficiently populated or complex that it is thought the provision of fire wardens/marshals is necessary. They should be trained to a higher level than other employees and their level of knowledge and understanding should be assessed by means of routine fire drills.

How does the Emergency Plan fit into the rest of the legal requirements for fire safety?

It is to be appreciated that the emergency plan should not be an exercise completed independently of the main fire risk assessment of the site. Instead, the assessment's findings should be an integral part in the plan’s individuality to the site or the site’s intended occupants forming a ‘couture’ approach to its development.

There is currently no specific method for the formulation of an emergency plan; however, the following are some of the points that may be relevant to the compilation of emergency plans for a number of situations;

• Actions in the event of/discovery of a fire – Details of the necessary actions will vary from company to company (e.g., issues of staff involvement in first aid fire fighting etc.), however, it is imperative that the fundamental evacuation procedure is strongly reinforced.
  Fire warning – The method by which the occupants of a building are informed that there is a fire incident may appear straightforward, however, buildings do not always utilise a common sounding bell. Sites where excessive noise is part of everyday operations may use lights or a combination of lights and sounders etc. but whatever method is used, it is essential that the fire warning signal is instantaneously recognisable to all on site.
• Evacuation procedure & Assembly point(s) – The most effective route from your most likely position (e.g. usually your work station/area) should also be known. Upon evacuation, the appropriate assembly point around the building should be readily identifiable.
• Fire fighting equipment – The location and use of the various types of extinguisher throughout the premises.
• Specific employee duties - Are there any procedures that must be carried out before you leave your area? E.g. the turning off machinery or power supplies? The job of fire marshal or part of the fire search party? Duties before evacuation must be essential and designated appropriately.
• At risk employees – The safe evacuation of designated at risk employees. These may include those with disabilities, members of the public, contractors etc.
• Procedures for high-risk areas – Are there specific procedures for ‘making safe’ any processes before the building is evacuated?
• Summoning fire brigade assistance (or that of other emergency services) – This may fall under specific employee duties
• Liasing with the emergency services

Is there anything else that could be useful to the Fire Service for inclusion in the Emergency Plan?

For larger, more complex buildings, the inclusion of a simple architectural drawing of the workplace is a valuable addition to the emergency plan. The sketch can be used to reinforce the existing points in the text, in addition to indicating other useful building features which may prove valuable to the local fire service.

Examples of the building layout content could include;

• Essential structural features – This would include doorways, walls, partitions, corridors, staircases etc. Of particular importance would be those elements that are designated specifically as fire resisting e.g. those forming lines of compartmentation throughout the building
• Escape routes – The ‘first choice’ and alternative escape routes from all areas of the building would be indicated as well as any refuges, should they be provided
• Means for fighting fire – Details of the location, number and type of portable fire fighting equipment
• Fire Warning – Locations of manually operated fire alarm call points & main fire alarm control panel
• Emergency Lighting – Location of, and control equipment
• Sprinkler System – Location of tanks, pumps and control valves
• Other – Location of main electrical supply switches, mains water shut off, main gas/oil shut off etc.

Conclusion

Irrespective of the size or complexity of a workplace, a defined emergency plan is a legal requirement and the onus is on the employer, or person controlling the workplace, to ensure that not only has a suitable plan being developed but, that all staff are familiar with the contents of the plan and are aware of how it is to be put into action in event of a fire or similar incident occurring.

Our aim, at CFSM, is to make the process of becoming fire safe, straight forward, and to use our expertise in fire risk assessment and fire safety management to guide you through each step, resulting in your premises meeting all legal, insurance and ethical fire safety considerations.

To read more about the CFSM platform, visit our ‘How CFSM works’ page. For any queries about Fire Engineering or the contents of this blog, please contact Peter Gyere on (0)20 8668 8663.

The Complete Fire Safety Management Platform is part of Lawrence Webster Forrest Limited, one of the UK's longest established Fire Engineering and Fire Risk Management Consultancies.