Safety Note 39 Fire Warden and Evacuation Officer Duties

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1 Health and Safety Services Safety Note 39 Fire Warden and Evacuation Officer Duties Fire Wardens and Evacuation Officers are members of staff who have been nominated to act as responsible persons during a fire or bomb alert evacuation. They are allocated specific tasks to ensure a safe, effective and quick evacuation of the premises during an emergency. Fire Wardens may be responsible for floors or sections of the premises and where required help to prevent entry to the premises by acting as door wardens. Evacuation Officers are responsible for the whole premises, supervising the assembly point and collating information received from Fire Wardens. This information is then passed onto the emergency services on their arrival. Nominated deputies will take on the role of the Fire Warden/Evacuation Officers during periods of absence, for example holidays or sickness. They may also assist with the evacuation when Fire Wardens and the Evacuation Officer are present. Individuals undertaking these duties need to be easily recognised by both their colleagues and the emergency services. They should therefore wear a fluorescent garment. Evacuation Officers should don a fluorescent coat, Fire Wardens a fluorescent arm band/vest. Floor/Section Wardens The following items outline the main responsibilities: 1. Floor/Section Wardens must be easily recognised by wearing the allocated fluorescent garment. 2. On hearing the fire alarm, Floor/Section Wardens should check that the area of the premises allocated to them has been fully evacuated of all staff, students, visitors and contractors. Make sure toilets, rest rooms, storage areas, common rooms and Refuge Areas (see 10. below) are checked. 3. During an evacuation, Floor/Section Wardens should instruct/guide others to the fire assembly point using the nearest fire exit route. Make sure everyone leaves the premises and nobody re-enters the building (see duties of the Fire Door Warden). Particular attention should be paid to visitors and new employees, who may be unfamiliar with the premises. 4. All persons should be encouraged to keep calm, not to run, not to use lifts and not to stop to gather up their personal belongings. In areas not affected by fire, doors and windows should be closed to assist in preventing the spread of fire and smoke. 5. On arrival at the fire assembly point, staff/students from each allocated area should report to their Floor/Section Warden. If the Warden has a list of staff/students/visitors who were present in their area prior to the evacuation, they should carry out a roll call to establish if everyone listed has safely left the premises. In practice, a list may not be available and the system will rely upon the Warden liaising with colleagues. This will establish who was in the premises and who has not been accounted for. 1

2 6. When Floor/Section Wardens are satisfied that their area has been cleared safely, they should notify the Evacuation Officer at the assembly point. The Evacuation Officer will be wearing the full fluorescent jacket and will have a list of the Floor/Section Wardens representing each area of the premises. 7. It is essential that the Floor/Section Wardens inform the Evacuation Officer of any members of staff/students/visitors who are not accounted for, or if they have been unable to fully check an area. This information, together with any information about the incident, must be passed by the Evacuation Officer to the Officer in Charge Fire Service, on their arrival. 8. Floor/Section Wardens need to ensure that no-one, staff/students or visitors, re-enter the premises until the Evacuation Officer or Officer in Charge Fire Service, have given the all clear. The Evacuation Officer will allocate Door Wardens to entrances and fire exits to prevent persons (other than fire service personnel) from entering the premises. 9. During prolonged incidents it maybe necessary to move persons from the initial assembly point to another assembly area. The Evacuation Officer will inform the Floor/Section Wardens of this, who will assist as required. 10. Floor/Section Wardens should be aware of any members of staff/students/visitors (where possible) who have special needs, including wheelchair users. These individuals should be provided with any extra assistance needed during an evacuation of the premises. This may include ensuring that they are escorted out of the building, or to a Refuge Area. A Refuge Area is a designated place of safety within fire staircase enclosure in which wheelchair users should remain. Their presence in a Refuge Area must be reported to the Evacuation Officer by the Floor/Section Warden or by any other responsible person e.g. buddy of the disabled person. The Fire Service will advise/assist in the evacuation of the wheelchair user from the premises if they consider an incident is likely to affect that area. A member of staff or other responsible person should remain with the wheelchair user in the Refuge Area during the evacuation. It is helpful if the disabled person or anyone accompanying them has a mobile phone with which they can keep in contact with the University Security Control room (Tel ). Lifts must not be used. 11. Floor/Section Wardens should also take an active role in fire safety and act as a contact within their area for fire safety matters. They can greatly assist in maintaining a safe working environment, by encouraging staff to report such items as blocked fire exits, defective fire doors, poor housekeeping, and by getting involved in fire safety assessments carried out by the Area Health and Safety Co-ordinator. 12. Please keep your Area Health and Safety Co-ordinator informed of any changes or replacements needed to Floor/Section Wardens appointments, to ensure that our emergency arrangements remain effective. Door Wardens Door Wardens should ensure that they are easily recognisable to their colleagues and others, by wearing the allocated fluorescent garment during any evacuation. 1. On hearing the alarm, Door Wardens should make their way to the fire assembly point, using the nearest fire exit route. They should report to the Fire Evacuation Officer, to be allocated an entrance or fire exit that should be supervised. 2. Door Wardens should position themselves outside the entrance or door as allocated and direct staff/students/visitors to the assembly point. 3. Door Wardens should ensure that no staff/students or visitors re-enter the building. This applies to all persons unless by direct authority of the Evacuation Officer to complete investigation work or assist with wheelchair occupants. 2

3 4. Door Wardens should maintain their position outside the entrance or door and await further instructions from the Evacuation Officer. 5. Fire Service personnel will be entering the building to complete a fire investigation or other operational duties. Information will be available for these personnel from the Evacuation Officer at the assembly point. Door Wardens should assist the fire personnel with information if you are sure of your facts, if not refer to the Evacuation Officer. Evacuation Officer 1. This list of duties for the Evacuation Officer is for guidance. In an emergency, decisions outside this guidance may be needed, dependent upon the circumstances. 2. Evacuation Officers should ensure they are easily recognisable to their colleagues and the emergency services by wearing fluorescent coat during any evacuation. 3. On hearing the fire alarm, Evacuation Officers should proceed immediately to the fire alarm enunciator panel. These are normally located in a conspicuous position adjacent to the main entrance to the premises. 4. Confirm the location of the incident as indicated on the panel. 5. Collect the emergency folder and associated equipment, for example, surcoat, radio, mobile phone, torch, loud hailer and fire box containing keys (contents of the emergency pack will vary for individual premises) 6. Don the surcoat and proceed to the fire assembly point. The Evacuation Officer should position themselves remote from the assembled evacuees. The emergency services will recognise the Evacuation Officer as a key individual and first point of contact. 7. Floor/Section Wardens should report to the Evacuation Officer that their area of the premises has been evacuated, that all occupants or visitors have been accounted for and whether there are any individuals requiring assistance with evacuation (e.g. wheelchair users in Refuge Areas). 8. Floor/Section Wardens, members of staff or other responsible persons can be allocated other tasks, so instruct them to remain on hand. In a large building with several assembly points this may include relaying messages and instructions from the Evacuation Officer to, and from, each of the assembly points. 9. Evacuation Officers should confirm whether the emergency services have been called. They may contact the Emergency Services directly by phoning 999 (from a mobile phone, or an internal land-line phone if safe access can be gained) to pass on essential first hand information about the incident. They may also pass on essential information to the University Security Control via handheld radio, if a University Security officer has attended the site. 10. Where University Security personnel have attended the incident, they will confirm by radio back to Security Control whether the emergency services have been called. 11. Allocate Door Wardens to control access to and from the premises. Provide the Door Wardens with a briefing sheet on their duties (normally kept in the emergency folder). 12. Allocate a responsible person to complete the following duties: To patrol around the premises externally and report any visible fire situation or persons reported missing. To locate themselves on route to the premises to direct emergency services to the incident. 13. The Evacuation Officer will complete a roll call. This will require collation of information received from the Floor/Section Wardens and any occupancy list contained in the emergency folder. Where possible establish the last known location of any person 3

4 reported missing. This information should be passed to the Officer in Charge of the Fire Service. 14. The Evacuation Officer should pass on the following essential information to the emergency services: Persons reported missing. Location of the fire (if known from the digital display on the fire panel) Access to the premises, making relevant keys available Specific hazards in the area The emergency folder (this contains plans of the premises, isolation of services, construction details fire hydrants/dry risers, high risk areas). 15. First aid area should be established adjacent to the Fire Assembly Point. This duty will normally be undertaken by a person qualified in First Aid. If it is a protracted incident, consider use of a separate building that is heated and provides shelter for any casualties or evacuees. 16. If it is a protracted incident the Evacuation Officer should consider moving all personnel to a secondary fire assembly point that will provide shelter. 17. The Evacuation Officer should notify the Floor/Section and Door Wardens when to leave the Fire Assembly Point or nominated position and re-enter the premises. This decision will normally be made once the all clear has been given by the emergency services. 18. At the end of the incident the Evacuation Officer should collect the Emergency Folder from the emergency services. Follow-up actions 19. During the course of a major incident, serious injuries may have occurred that require the Health and Safety Executive to be informed. Advice on this can be obtained from Health and Safety Services (extension 8888) who will be responsible for informing HSE. 20. All accidents and injuries should be recorded in the accident book held on the premises and a report made to Health and Safety Services, using the University Incident report form. School/Directorate management are responsible for investigating the cause of the incident and taking any necessary remedial action. 21. Items of equipment that require re-setting may need the attention of the engineers in Maintenance Department, Facilities Management Directorate. The Evacuation Officer should report this to FMD. For example: Fire Alarms Electronic security on Fire Exits Emergency lighting Fire extinguishers Securing the building together with any emergency maintenance 22. A damage assessment may need to be made by FMD, with input from the affected Schools/Directorates. Estimated costs should be passed to the University Insurance Officer, extension Following a serious fire, the Fire Service will normally arrange for a re-inspection of the damaged area. This is to monitor the potential of re-ignition of the fire incident. It is advisable that the University through FMD make its own arrangements to monitor affected areas. 4

5 Out of Hours Working The duties of the Evacuation Officer will normally be undertaken by the most senior person present. This may lead in some situations to moments of debate but the essential issue is that a responsible individual takes control of the situation. An out of hours booking system should be available in all premises. This should be taken to the assembly point to establish who was in the building at the time of the evacuation. In these circumstances the Evacuation Officer will rely upon others who have vacated the premises providing information when they arrive at the fire assembly point. The type of information required by the emergency services will remain as for a normal hours evacuation. There will however be greater reliance on individuals who will not necessarily be familiar with the fire routine. If there is any doubt that the premises have or have not been fully evacuated this must be relayed to the Fire Service, who will undertake a search. It is therefore very important that any information obtained is passed on to the emergency services. This will assist in reducing the scale of the search pattern. The threshold for Out of Hours Working will normally decided by the Head of School/ Department. This will normally be based upon office hours but take into account the working practices within the premises. Health and Safety Services 2 nd Edition, February 2007 Telephone extension 8888 Website: 5