The final part of fire safety is being ready: having a clear plan for an emergency, making sure everyone can escape, including those who need extra help, and practising it, so that people act without hesitation.

A plan that only exists on paper is not enough. People must know it, help must be arranged in advance for those who need it, and the whole plan must be tested by regular drills.

You will learn about:

• Who may need extra help to escape.
• Additional fire safety measures.
• Personal emergency evacuation plans.
• The fire plan, and the role of fire marshals.
• Fire drills.

Standard arrangements work for most people, but some cannot rely on them alone. The fire risk assessment must identify anyone who would need extra help to escape, including:

• People with mobility impairments who cannot use stairs unaided, including wheelchair users.
• People who are deaf or hard of hearing, who may not hear an alarm, and people who are blind or partially sighted, who may not see signs.
• People with cognitive impairments, or conditions that affect how they respond in an emergency.
• Lone workers, and people in remote or isolated parts of the premises.
• Young, new or inexperienced workers, and visitors who do not know the building.
• People who may be asleep on the premises.

Once you know who needs extra help, put suitable measures in place, such as:

• Refuges: protected areas, often on stair landings, where someone who cannot use the stairs can wait safely for help, with a way to talk to the fire team.
• Evacuation chairs, which let a trained person take someone safely down the stairs.
• Visual and vibrating alarms, such as flashing beacons, vibrating pagers and pillow alarms.
• Tactile, accessible signs, and step-free escape routes where possible.
• Buddy systems, with named colleagues trained to help a particular person.

Arrange these in advance, and train the people involved. An emergency is too late to work out how someone will get out.

A personal emergency evacuation plan, or PEEP, is a tailored evacuation plan for an individual who needs assistance to escape. It is usually prepared for employees and regular users of the building.

A PEEP sets out exactly how the person will be warned, the route they will take, any equipment to be used, such as an evacuation chair, who will help them, and where they will go. It is agreed with the person, and reviewed regularly.

The needs of visitors and members of the public cannot be known in advance. A generic emergency evacuation plan sets out the standard help the premises can offer to anyone who needs it.

• Identify who needs a PEEP through the fire risk assessment, and by talking to the person.
• Record the plan, and make sure the people who will help know their role and are trained.
• Review each PEEP regularly, and whenever the person’s needs or the building change.

The fire plan, or emergency plan, sets out what everyone must do if there is a fire. It is based on the fire risk assessment, and should cover:

• What to do on discovering a fire, and how to raise the alarm.
• How the fire service will be called, and by whom.
• The evacuation strategy, escape routes and assembly point.
• Arrangements for people who need help to evacuate.
• The roles of fire marshals, and who takes charge.
• How to check that everyone is out, such as a roll call or a sweep of the building.
• How to meet the fire service when they arrive, and how the all-clear is given.

Fire marshals, or fire wardens, are employees with specific responsibilities to make the fire plan work. Their roles typically include:

• Making sure their area is evacuated quickly and calmly, and sweeping it to check that no one is left behind.
• Helping people who need assistance, in line with their PEEPs.
• Checking that people use the correct escape routes.
• Taking a roll call at the assembly point, and reporting anyone missing to the fire service.
• Day to day, carrying out routine checks and promoting good fire safety habits.

Marshals must be trained, and there must be enough of them to cover all areas and all shifts.

A fire drill is a practice evacuation. It tests whether the fire plan actually works, and makes sure people respond quickly and correctly when it matters.

Fire drills should be carried out at least once a year. Hold them more often in higher-risk premises, where people work shifts, or where there is a high turnover of staff.

Lessons from every drill should be fed back into the fire risk assessment and the fire plan, so that the arrangements keep improving.

To run an effective drill:

• Plan it, but make it as realistic as practical. Sometimes block a route, to check that people use an alternative.
• Sound the alarm, and have everyone evacuate by the nearest safe route to the assembly point.
• Time the evacuation, and watch how people respond, including those who need assistance.
• Take a roll call to confirm that everyone is accounted for.
• Hold a debrief, record the drill, and act on any problems, such as blocked routes, alarms not heard, or confusion over roles.