Fire drills

Fire drills should be carried out regularly to test the effectiveness of the emergency fire evacuation procedure and to allow any persons nominated to assist a level of practice of their exact duties. Drills should be carried out as realistically as possible and be tailored to the needs of the premises. For guidance, conducting 1 or 2 fire drills per 12-month period is normally recommended.

All fire drills should be recorded and the details noted as:

• The time and date of the drill
• The approximate number of people evacuated
• The approximate time taken to clear the building
• The area or room where the fire had been simulated (simulating fires in different areas of the building will identify which escape routes are available to use for any given scenario).

Following a fire drill, we recommend holding discussions to identify any potential weaknesses in procedures or to report any faults in fire equipment i.e. fire doors jammed or locked shut, fire alarm sounders inaudible, slow egress due to high numbers of persons using the same exit.

Note: In premises where the fire alarm system is linked to an alarm receiving centre (ARC) a call should first be made to the receiving centre to notify them of the planned drill /alarm activation. This will prevent any unwanted attendance by the Fire and Rescue Service.