 informing the responding emergency service who is not accounted for and where and when they were last seen. This will greatly influence the search and rescue strategy of the emergency service.
Planning for fires and other emergencies needs to be done in advance. As essential documents are drafted, proposed measures need to be tested and revisited as necessary. When new procedures are designed and implemented and new equipment, materials and products are brought into the facility, plans need to be re-examined and adjusted as necessary. Desk top exercises and evacuation drills are essential means for determining whether plans are effective.
Key to successful emergency planning is the training and education of all staff including hands-on practical training so that their respective roles in a fire and evacuation become second nature. It is also a good practice to provide all staff, during induction, a thorough briefing on fire safety and regular refresher training.
Visitors, contractors and others should also be provided information about fire safety when they work in or visit the facility.
This article suggest three essential documents that should be continually reviewed and updated as necessary. The three documents are the fire risk assessment, the emergency action plan and the fire prevention plan. All documents should be drafted in concert with the local emergency services and should be reviewed with these services before finalised.
The fire risk assessment
According to the publication Fire Safety Risk Assessment: Health care premises and the (UK) Health and Safety Executive, there are five steps for carrying out a risk assessment: identify fire hazards; identify people at risk; evaluate, remove, reduce and protect from risk; record, plan, inform, instruct and train; and review.
The Fire Safety Risk Assessment: Health care premises publication goes into further guidance of what needs to be considered on the following topics: fire risks and preventative measures; fire-detection and warning systems; firefighting equipment and facilities; escape routes and strategies; emergency escape lighting; signs and notices; recording, planning, informing; and instructing and training.
Strong consideration should also be given to who is carrying out the risk assessment for the facility. Criteria for the competencies of fire risk assessors can be found in the following document.
The London Fire Brigade, on its website, publishes guidance in choosing a competent risk assessor.
The Institute of Fire Engineers maintains a registry of fire risk assessors as well as a list of institutions offering fire risk assessment training.
The emergency action plan
An emergency action plan is based on a risk assessment, carried out by a competent risk assessor. Partially based on a document from the (US) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) an Emergency Action Plan must contain the following elements: a description of types of emergencies that could occur to the facility; means of reporting fires and other emergencies; levels of emergencies and criteria for escalation; evacuation procedures and emergency escape route assignments; procedures for staff who remain in order to assist patients and others or shut down critical functions before they evacuate; procedures for accounting for all patients, employees and visitors after an emergency evacuation has been completed; rescue and medical duties for employees performing them; names or job titles of persons who can be contacted; agreements with emergency services; agreements with other facilities to accept evacuated patients; and timing for the regular review of the emergency action plan.
The Fire Prevention Plan
A number of organisations also publish a fire prevention plan. It is based on the fire risk assessment and includes a description of sources of fuel and sources of ignition at the facility that could cause or contribute to the spread of fire. The plan also describes alarm systems and fire extinguishing systems. The plan should also describe protection dealing with the detection, t