SAFETY
OFFICE
FIRE
DRILLS - October 2011
The Fire Drills will be held during
the week commencing Monday, 10 October 2011. It is a legal requirement that the University
carries out fire drills. Although the
drills may cause disturbance, I hope you will appreciate that practice in the
evacuation of the University's buildings, particularly where large numbers of
people are involved, is an important objective in carrying out the fire drills.
The purpose of the drill is:-
1 To acquaint everyone
with the nature of the alarm
2 To make everyone aware of the
necessity of evacuating the building when the fire alarm is sounded
3 To bring attention to the necessity of
making oneself familiar with the alternative means of escape from buildings and
the routine to be followed in case of fire.
Notices setting out this routine are displayed adjacent to the break
glass fire alarm call points in the building
4 To
draw attention to the importance of going to the assembly point, allowing a
check to be made that the building has been evacuated and enabling the Fire
Service to deal with the fire without the delay of searching for persons still
to be accounted for.
The fire drills also present an
opportunity for members of staff to familiarise themselves with the exit issues
for those with restricted mobility, including staff, students and
visitors. Advice can be found at
Action
to be taken by persons who are dependent on the use of a lift if the lift is not
available
and
Health
and Safety Information for Visitors to the University
Co-operation by all concerned will reduce
interruption to a minimum, typically no more than 10 minutes. Lack of co-operation means that the alarm
bells will continue to ring until the building has been evacuated thereby
extending such interruption.
Whilst every effort will be made to
keep to the following timetable, inevitably
delays will occur and consequently the times must only be regarded as
approximate. Staff and students should
muster at the assembly point, well clear of exit doors, until the alarms are
silenced. They may then re-enter the
building
Any defects, such as sounders not
functioning correctly, should be brought to the attention of Facilities Management
using the normal mechanisms for the reporting of faults.
In order to assist in ensuring that most people are
aware of the drills, notices have been placed on the
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/depts/safety/fire_drills/fire-drill-posters-2011.pdf
The documents can be downloaded and printed for
display around your area/department.