Tall buildings, in general, are not designed for fast and easy evacuation, with narrow stairwells and elevator shafts, exits tend to get clogged up with people and can be dangerous. It is important to learn the best way to evacuate a tall building and thankfully there are several new evacuation strategies in research and in practice today.
There are some new strategies for evacuating tall buildings and some may surprise you. The first one is to use the elevators. I know we have all read the signs that say ‘in event of a fire, use the stairs’ but during the 9/11 disasters, 3,000 people escaped through the elevators. Because of this there are now fire safe elevators being designed and will soon be implemented in building designs. Permitting the use of elevators in the event of a fire would require additional fire protection since unguarded elevator shafts could be flooded with smoke and harm the people inside. Once these proportions have been designed and elevators can be used in the event of a fire It can cut the evacuation time from an hour to just twenty minutes.
When evacuating a tall building it should be done in sections to prevent crowding in stairwells. Move to a floor that is easy to reach and is well below the fire. Everyone should be aware of the buildings safety plan and know the evacuation steps, every building should have at least two evacuation plans. You will need to exit the room you are in before you can evacuate the building, there should be two exits and you should be able to avoid smoke by staying low to the ground while you exit.
Sometimes it is safer to stay where you are rather than trying to evacuate. If smoke or fire is blocking your evacuation route then you should stay put and wait for first responders to instruct you. Buildings are usually required to have 2-4 hour firewalls protecting stairwells, firewalls and floors should help to contain the fire to the section of the building that it started in.
The evacuation process needs to be practiced regularly so that it can run smoothly if a disaster was to ever strike. It is much easier to perfect the process during practice runs than it is in the event of a real fire.
Owning a small business comes with a lot of responsibility and one of those responsibilities is making sure that you are complying to fire safety regulations. This is important because if you are not compliant then you can face fines and could also be held liable if anyone was to get injured or killed on your premises. There are some simple but vital things that all small businesses must have. In this article, we will outline the most important things that you can do to keep your business and employees safe.
As a small business, you are required to have a fire suppression system such as an automatic sprinkler system. This will detect a fire and raise the alarm as well as spraying a sprinkler system to try to dampen the fire and prevent it from spreading before the relevant authorities get to the scene.
You must have a written evacuation plan which much show the following:
This plan should be reviewed every 6 months to a year. And you should also carry out regular fire drills to practice the evacuation procedure.
Fire exits are very important and as a small business, you are required to have at least two fire exits that are not in close proximity to each other. These exits need to be kept clear at all times as well as the routes that lead to the exits. Exit routes must be lit and marked with lighted signs.
You must have the correct fire extinguishers for your business type and they must be kept in good working order and serviced yearly. Employees should be fully trained in fire safety and how to use a fire extinguisher if they need to. Remember they should only ever use one if it is safe to do so.
One of the most important things to do is to have a fire prevention plan so that an emergency can be avoided altogether by following the right procedures throughout the workplace. As a small business owner, you must train your employees in fire prevention regulations and tips. Prevention actions and tips will vary depending on the type of business.
Regular checks need to be put in place to check the following:
If you are unsure what you need to do to be compliant to regulations get in contact with us and we will take into account, the specification, the territory, the market, and the local or national standards so we offer the correct solution.
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