Practice Evacuations/Drills

Australian Standards AS 3745 (2010) – Planning for Emergencies in Facilities – states that all building occupants MUST participate in an evacuation exercise.  

The purpose of the exercise is to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the ECO response and the provisions of the Emergency Plan.

A practice evacuation is where an emergency is detected in a building and Wardens commence an evacuation of either a section or all of the building.

Some buildings do not evacuate unless an emergency is detected.  These types of buildings require Wardens to receive a higher level of training and understanding of emergency systems.

Additionally, they require an avenue to test their ability to determine that the alarm is false in nature. 

A practice drill is a response to and the management of an alarm activation that (at the conclusion) is deemed false in nature.

Road Test Your Emergency Response

Any competency training should provide an avenue to performance test the level of skills which trainees have attained/maintained (following the training) to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the response.

Practice evacuations are our way of quality control and performance testing of the emergency response procedures and the performance of staff and Wardens.

Our team of trained professionals will take all the hassle away from organising and conducting a practice evacuation in your building.

Debriefs are conducted following the practice to ensure that relevant staff are provided with feedback on their performance including highlighting positive areas of response as well as areas that will improve their response.

Duration

The Practice Evacuation will take approximately 30-45 minutes to facilitate.  This will include pre and post debriefing.

Outcomes

The Practice Evacuation will:

  • Allow ECO members to practice what they have been taught in the training program.
  • Allow QFEM staff to determine any response or support system issues/deficiencies.
  • Provide an avenue to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of Wardens.
  • Ensure your Emergency Plan meets the requirements of relevant state and Territory legislation – including AS 3745 (2010) and AS 4083 (2010)

Participants

All ECO member MUST be exposed to a practice evacuation as deemed appropriate by the Emergency Planning Committee.

Ongoing Compliance

An evacuation exercise should be undertaken every 12 months and facilitated along with Warden Refresher Training.  It is also recommended that Wardens participate in 6 monthly skills retention exercises to ensure that information is not lost over the 12-month period.  

QuickFire EM manage all of your compliance issues, providing reminders for key stakeholders that evacuations/drills are due and working with you to plan the most suitable time to facilitate annual evacuations.