FIRE EVACUATIONS – WHAT IS YOUR ESCAPE PLAN?

We are all guilty of the unpredicted ‘panic mode’ when we are caught off guard. Unfortunately this happens at the most crucial moments – including the evacuation of a building which is on fire. Would you have an escape plan?

Fire safety is an ever growing topic with great importance –with great prominence on the legalities behind fire prevention, means of an escape, travel distances, signage and emergency lighting.

Frequently, we find that naturally our human reactions take over when we are faced with such an event. All too often, we find that people do not respond to the event when they see it, they wait to see the reactions of other people around them – a false fire alarm for instance will see people waiting for someone to announce a go ahead. This is not a practice run! It is the early stages within a fire that it can take hold and spread so detection and evacuation immediately is crucial.

It is common that People may ‘freeze’ due to panic, again down to our human reactions. We are not naturally prepared for a disaster and therefore this means people remain in their mind set of ‘how things should be’ rather than reacting appropriately. This sees people exiting a building through the door which they entered through, causing large groups of people pushing to get out. Meanwhile, this is not necessarily the nearest fire exit!

Sadly it has become apparent that when people get out of a building which is on fire, they gather outside the building as opposed to meeting at the designated fire evacuation assembly point. Not only does this make it harder for others to leave the building to get to safety, but people then pose as a risk to becoming a victim to the fire flashover – a stage in which the fire may cause devastations, taking the lives of people who had escaped the initial stages of the fire.

What would you do if you was faced with escaping a fire?

  1. If you see a fire, stay calm and raise the alarm.
  2. Do not wait to see the reactions of other people in the building before raising the alarm & leaving the building.
  3. Exit the building through the nearest fire exit – which is not necessarily the door which you entered the building through.
  4. Once you have exited the building, assemble at the designated fire evacuation
  5. DO NOT under any circumstance go back into the building.

When you enter a large yet unfamiliar building – such as a hotel or nightclub, it is all too tempting to go ahead and not give fire safety another thought. Here at Keybury, we advise that you take a moment to study possible exit routes, alternative routes of escape in the event that the lift was not working, or even the location of fire extinguishers. It may just save your life and others around you!

If you have any queries about the fire detection equipment which you use, or if you require regular servicing and maintenance of your system, please contactus.

Escape Plan