Fire drills are very important for any business, no matter how big or small the building is, whether you own an entire building or live on just one floor. To efficiently get out of a building quickly is necessary because you just don’t know how much time you have when a building is on fire, or where the exit routes might be blocked. So here’s the importance of having fire drills in your company.
They Can Save Lives
Fire drills save lives, it’s that simple. Thinking that everyone has the ability to escape a burning building in time for it not to catch up with them is naive because not everyone thinks or reacts the same way. You may have people who cower in rooms for fear that a ceiling might collapse or they have a panic attack. They could end up trapping themselves in an area of the building, and if no one finds them, then that could potentially be the end for them. Fire drills themselves are pretty tame and are never really taken very seriously, but having them done regularly will be good to keep on top of it and to make sure people are practicing, knowing where to go and where to regroup.
It Tests Staff’s Reactive Response
Some staff are pretty quick when it comes to their reaction time, with others being quite slow to pick up on things. If you’ve got staff members who hear the alarm go off, some may jump into gear, throwing on their fire warden’s attire if they are one and another person might be in the bathroom, drying up their hands before making their way casually down and out of the building. When doing fire drills, you want to be testing how fast it takes to get everyone out of the building, and if it’s not within a certain amount of time, you need to be doing these fire drills more often until it meets a suitable standard.
Identifies The Weak Points
By not doing a fire drill, you miss out on identifying the weak points in the organization of it and the execution of what would happen in the event of a real fire. You might want to see what can be changed to help protect your staff and what could be brought. Like fire shutters from A1S Group or getting stair-friendly wheelchairs to get disabled workers and guests out of the building too. Having these issues highlighted will hopefully show that you, as a company, have done everything necessary that you can to ensure the safety of your staff.
Assesses Different Scenarios
It also helps with assessing different scenarios and different possibilities to get out of the building. If there’s an opportunity to present more than one option, then this needs to be explored, and more importantly, tested.
So use these fire drills as a good opportunity to test your staff’s reaction time and to highlight those problems that could potentially be the difference between saving someone’s life or not.