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James Larkin
Member - 7 posts
We just had a fire drill which was a fiasco. The assembly point could not accommodate all staff from the multi occupancy building with some forced onto the adjoining busy road and middle island almost being hit by traffic. There appears to have been no arrangements made for pregnant staff. Are there any regulations on fire drills, how far should the assembly point be from the building, is this the same as a cordon? Is the respojsible person responsible for the safety of staff too and at the fire assembly point? Any assistance would be appreciated.
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Alan Cox - First for Fire & Safety
Online advisor - 56 posts
James, It appears that the person or persons that organised the drill have clearly not thought about it before going ahead with it and this is what has caused the problems. I am a little surprised that this has not happened previously or is this the first fire drill that has been carried out? If you had carried out drills previously you would have been aware of these problems and would have developed the evacuation and learnt from each one. As this is a multi occupied building I assume that the landlord or his agent organised it and not very well by the sound of it.
When a fire drill is carried out a risk assessment should have been made that looks at all of these problems including disabled and pregnant staff. The Assembly Point is something that should have been estabilshed when the building was first occupied and obviously one of the first considerations is will it hold the required number of people and obviously this will dictate how far away it is from the building you are evacuating. This can cause problems in city centres as I know of one company that used a football ground about 1/4 mile away and when they came to get the staff back to work a good number of them had gone home. Communication is also another important point to consider when you are looking at large numbers and many organisations use radios or loud hailers.
You have also asked if the responsible person is responsible for the safety of staff too and at the fire assembly point and this again is something that needs to be clarified prior to the drill as there may be a number of persons involved eg the individual employers representative may be responsible for evacuating their occupancy but the owner/landlords agent may have a joint responsibility at the Assembly Point.
As you can see with a simple small building there should generally not be a problem but when you look at large multi occupied buildings there can be lots of problems that need a great deal of thought and planning.
I hope that helps but if not please get in contact with me. Alan
mail@alanfcox.co.uk
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Mike Kane
Member - 26 posts
Hello James,
We agree with Alan Cox's comments above.
The Landlords / Managing Agents are responsible in a Multi-Occupied building to ensure that the necessary safety measures are implemented in their buildings and it is the responsibility of every employer to ensure that they cooperate and give their staff all necessary training.
A competent risk assessment should identify where a safe assembly point for all employees and others should be located, taking into consideration the total numbers to be accommodated.
For fire purposes there is no minimum distance required, save that it should be "far enough away" from the building dependent upon the fire loading and potential explosion risk (Go back to the Fire Risk Assessment to determine this........)
Every employer is responsible for the wellbeing of their workers including any who might have special needs (including temporary needs such as pregnancy or repairable broken limbs etc.).
Often, dependent upon local circumstances, these queries amount to "How long is a piece of string?" and an individual inspection and assessment is the only way forward.
Contact for further help, if required
Mike Kane
fireuk@msn.com
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Iain Sanderson
Member - 39 posts
In terms of where an assembly point should be there is the difficulty that whilst building standards/control legislation deals with getting persons resorting to a building out of it, there is no legislation that deals adequately with where to put the people when they have left the building.
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James Larkin
Member - 7 posts
Alan, Mike, Iain, thank you very much for taking the time to reply to my posting. Your responses have been most helpful. The advice of the HSE was sought and as a result the Assembly Point has been relocated to an alternative location which is less hazardous. Guidance is being revised to include a section on risk assessing the assembly point as part of the Fire Risk Assessment. New & Expectant Workers Risk assessments have now been put in place together with the opportunity to request a Personal Evacuation Plan for staff with temporary mobility limiting conditions. This really is a case of learning from a near miss and taking effective redial action.
Thanks again.
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