Fire evacuation plan - what you should know!

Fires can cause serious damage to buildings, property and of course are a huge risk to peoples safety. Ensuring you have an accurate and up to date fire evacuation plan for your workplace can really make the difference between life and death and ensure your employees remain as safe as possible should they ever need to evacuate a building due to the fire alarm being raised.

The purpose of a fire evacuation plan is to provide a safe and reliable exit in the event of an emergency. It highlights how to report an emergency, what to do and who will assist you. Making sure that and all employees and frequent visitors must be familiar with the fire evacuation plan will make for a smoother, hassle-free and safe exit should the fire alarm be raised.

Examples of what may be in a fire evacuation plan could include pointers about leaving all belongings, closing the door behind you if you are the last to leave, make your way to the nearest exit, never using lifts in the building and assist impaired people who may struggle to leave the building alone.

Having a fire evacuation plan visible and in a location where it can be seen by anyone at any time is very important. A great area for one to be placed may be in a communal environment such as a canteen or on a visible notice board.

A fire evacuation plan usually maps out the quickest exit from the building as well as where the nearest fire exits are, where everyone must assemble outside and where fire extinguishers and first aid kits are located. Having this information always on display will help speed up the process of evacuation and greatly reduce the risk of any injury.

It is also important to note that all fire escape routes should be well lit and free from obstacles that may slow people down. When a fire occurs, every second counts and ensuring everyone inside the building can leave in a safe and orderly fashion is very important. It is also a great idea to have regular fire evacuation tests so that employees are familiar with the plan of action during an emergency so, if a genuine fire alarm was raised, all employees would instantly know what to do and where to go.

Fire evacuation plans can be used in all buildings in order to keep everyone safe and are often seen in offices, hospitals, hotels, schools, supermarkets and more.