Introduction to Fire Safety Management

Figure 10.30 Visual and audible communication for managing
crowd safety
➤ Limiting the numbers of people permitted in a particular
part of the building or section of seating
➤ Providing adequate means of escape that is:
➤ Obvious and well signed
➤ Has good underfoot conditions
➤ Opens in the direction of escape
➤ Opens when under pressure from a crowd, e.g.
a push bar to open device
➤ Providing adequate communications equipment,
e.g. a public address system or personal megaphones
for fi re marshals
➤ Providing an audible/visual safety briefi ng which
includes basic safety information along with instruction
of what action will be required in case of
emergency
➤ Providing additional emergency lighting
➤ Providing assistance in the form of competent fi re
wardens or fi re marshals
➤ Provision for people with special needs
➤ First aid facilities.
10.4.2 The purpose of drills, evacuation and
roll-calls
There is no evidence from research to suggest that a
fi re exit sign will necessarily encourage people to head
towards it in the event of a fi re, unless the route is
already familiar. Occupants may choose to ignore specifi
c fi re exit routes and choose familiar routes. It is quite
likely that people would often be more inclined to move
to a familiar exit which is further away than an unfamiliar
exit nearby. Therefore it is vital that where possible
Safety of people in the event of a fi re
people who may need to use an exit in the event of an
emergency are familiar with it.
The purpose of practising an evacuation procedure
is to ensure it functions adequately, to ensure all those
with a specifi c role in the procedure are aware of and
competent in their role and are able to demonstrate to
all parties that arrangements have been put in place to
achieve a reasonable level of safety in the event of fi re.
The object of a fi re evacuation procedure is to
practise good evacuation behaviour, so that people do
not experience or develop serious health effects associated
with being exposed to the effects of fi re.
In order to test evacuation procedures it is important
to achieve as much realism as possible. The procedure
will not be fully tested if people think that the actual
emergency escape routes cannot be used.
During a fi re evacuation drill in a police station,
staff delayed their escape because once
at the bottom of a staircase, which was only
used for emergency evacuation, they were
confronted with a break glass to open fi tting
on the fi nal exit door. They were reluctant to
break the glass, fearing unnecessary damage
and so they retraced their steps and left the
building through the main entrance.
As a result:
➤ The procedures were not tested fully
➤ The fi nal exit door and its security fi tting
remained untested
➤ Everyone else who had left their work
had, in effect, wasted their time.
10.4.3 Confi rming the building is clear
In the event of a fi re in a building the fi re service will
need to know, among other things, whether or not there
are still people left in the building. It is important to provide
the fi re service with clear information regarding
the situation relating to people in the building. If the fi re
service offi cer on the scene has any doubt as to whether
there are persons in a building their fi rst priority becomes
the rescue of those people. This will involve committing
fi re fi ghters into the building to conduct search and rescue
operations and is very likely to delay an attack on
the main seat of the fi re.
In order to be confi dent when reporting to the fi re
service, the fi re incident controller will need to know that
everyone has either left the building or, if people are still
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