EVACUATION DRILLS PROCEDURE AND EMERGENCY EVACUATION REPORT FORM

Table of Contents 

THE PURPOSE OF THE ANNUAL EVACUATION DRILL

TYPES OF EVACUATION DRILL

1. Drills with Advanced Notice
2. Drills Without Advanced Notice

GETTING STARTED

BEFORE THE DRILL (PREPARATION)

A. Agree about the details of the drill

B. Agree on the framework for observers

C. Informing staff about the evacuation concept

Responsibility for Roles:

DURING THE DRILL (OBSERVATION)

D. Noting Observations

AFTER THE DRILL (EVALUATION)

E. The working environment group(s) meet to evaluate the Emergency Evacuation drill.

FAQ

Information for Staff Before a Drill

Instructions for Evacuation and Assembly Point Managers

THE PURPOSE OF THE ANNUAL EVACUATION DRILL

The joint emergency management concept at [Organization/Company] is designed to ensure that, in cases of danger, the people who are present in private areas can be rapidly evacuated from a building and be guided to a safe area. 

The evacuation concept is based on two principles: 

1. The purpose of wearing jackets to support evacuation is to ensure an efficient evacuation procedure about 1) saving lives, 2) maintaining health and 3) protecting property. The jackets also create visible assurance among staff that an evacuation is being properly handled and the instructions allow evaluation and assembly point managers to gain an all-round view of the situation.

2. The purpose of performing annual evacuation drills is to create well-rehearsed knowledge of the procedure regarding jackets and to continually heighten the efficiency of evacuations to create a sense of security related to emergency management daily and during an evacuation process.

The annual drills for the emergency may allow trying out different evacuation scenarios that could indicate where initiatives can be adopted to improve the efficiency of evacuations.

TYPES OF EVACUATION DRILL

Employees can choose between the two following types of evacuation drill:

1. Drills with Advanced Notice

This type of emergency drills provides an opportunity to advise employees about the roles & procedures of the evacuation manager and the assembly point manager in advance and to check their knowledge and competency of the evacuation concept.  This is possible because staff are informed of the date and type of event in advance.

It is viable to make use of special real-time effects such as smoke, visual injuries or actors, etc. is not an option.

These are always recommended as an initial drill, where staff have been informed what to do in advance.

This kind of drill is preferable when new decor of the building or if the staff have been moved.

2. Drills Without Advanced Notice

This provides an opportunity to check whether the principle of using jackets is a well-rehearsed procedure in evacuations, as the date and time of the drill will not be known in advance.  Multiple special effects can be used, such as smoke, alarms, actors and visual injuries, etc.

The emergency drill will be experienced as a more authentic evacuation.

GETTING STARTED

The unit/departmental manager is accountable for making sure that the annual evacuation emergency drill is conducted. The unit/departmental manager should involve the unit’s working environment group in the course of events listed below:

1. Before the drill
2. During the drill
3. After the drill

The unit manager agrees on and plans the evacuation drill in collaboration with Technical Services. The agreement is entered into by contacting Technical Services via [email@email.com] the subject field:” Conducting an evacuation drill”. The working environment groups from neighbouring units must be included in the organisation of the evacuation drill for coordination.  

Technical Services staff will help and assist all units to conduct Emergency Evacuation Drills and should be contacted well in advance in planning the annual drill.

BEFORE THE DRILL (PREPARATION)

A. Agree about the details of the drill

In consultation with Technical Services, unit staff should first reach an agreement on the following:

• Date and time for the evacuation drill Should it be a drill with or without advanced notice?
• What should the event scenario be? (e.g., a fire, a chemical leakage, uncontrollably violent behaviour, etc.)
• If it is a drill without advanced notice, should special effects be used?
• Who in the unit will gather evaluations of the evacuation drill from observers and coordinate an evaluation meeting?
• Should Technical Services Staff (TSS) attend the evaluation meeting and, if so, should the comprehensive evaluation report be sent to them?

B. Agree on the framework for observers

Agree in advance of the emergency evacuation drill who will act as observers during the event and discuss:

• Where observers should be positioned to make their observations.
• It will be an advantage for one or two observers to be close to the project or worksite of the event and for one or two to be at the Assembly Point (AP). The others can take up positions in corridors or larger rooms to observe people’s behaviour and reactions.
• Which other observations are considered to be relevant?
• Which observers will be ranked where and when at the agreed worksites?
• Other matters.

C. Informing staff about the evacuation concept

In the case of drills with advanced notice, it is a good idea for the working environment group to inform staff about the evacuation concept:

• The role of evacuation manager
• The role of assembly point manager

Responsibility for Roles:

The two roles do not comprise accountability for staff. They exclusively involve coordinating and supporting functions in connection with the individual event. The roles are assumed by voluntary staff when the event occurs. 

It is a good idea to send out the instructions regarding the evacuation concept with information for staff to ensure that everybody has had an opportunity to read them before the event.

DURING THE DRILL (OBSERVATION)

D. Noting Observations

Emergency Evacuation Observers (EEO’s) must record down their Emergency Evacuation observations during the drill. The report could be utilized to gain as a framework for taking notes during the drill.

The following Emergency Evacuation observations should be noted during the drill:

1. Reaction time (the time from the occurrence of the event until the yellow jackets are put on)
2. The activation of the evacuation manager
3. The activation of the assembly point manager 
4. The behaviour of the evacuation manager
5. Collaboration between wearers of the yellow and orange jackets.
6. Total time is taken for the evacuation

AFTER THE DRILL (EVALUATION)

E. The working environment group(s) meet to evaluate the Emergency Evacuation drill.

Before the meeting, each member of the working environment group(s) must write down his/ her notes in the Emergency Evacuation report. The Emergency Evacuation notes can be sent to the other working environment groups before the meeting.

The notes must be summarized at the meeting to create an overall evaluation, which can be seen in appendix 2 with the emphasis on:

• How the evacuation went
• Which procedural failures in the Emergency Evacuation were observed and evaluated that should be taken up locally in the units? 

For Example:

• Did the total Emergency Evacuation take too long, for instance? 
• Were the roles & responsibilities of Emergency Evacuation Manager (EEM) and Assembly Point Manager (APM) not performed satisfactorily? 
• The date of next year’s Emergency evacuation drill should also be agreed on.

If Technical Services staff had agreed to take part in the drill, they can also comment on any faults based on the evaluation reports they have received.

FAQ

• How do we communicate during a drill with advanced notice that an event has occurred- red?
• Make the event visible. If for example, place a picture of a fire and sticking it to the coffee-maker.
• The information for employees is simply to explain where the fire is.
• Another scenario could be to inform staff about a person exhibiting threatening behaviour and to have an actor play this role at the office on the day in question.
• Should we take valuables with us to the Assembly Point (AP)?
• The principal rule is that (Organization) does not consider it is obliged to compensate staff for the loss of valuables not related to the performance of their work. It is, therefore, a good idea for them to take property with them in an emergency evacuation if it is not safely stored.
• However, there may be exceptions, whereby an obligation to pay compensation would have to be evaluated based on the specific situation. 

Information for Staff Before a Drill 

(Managers/supervisors are recommended always to send out information the first time a unit is testing the evacuation concept).

1. Invitation 

The evacuation drill will take place:

Date:

Duration of the drill:

2. The Information

The announced emergency evacuation drill will be performed by following the jacket principle:

The emergency evacuation manager is the person wearing the yellow jacket

The assembly point manager is the person wearing the orange jacket

The instructions for performing the two roles can be found in the evacuation box and are attached to this e-mail.

The following supplementary information can be included in the health and safety groups wish:

• The emergency evacuation instructions should be analyzed by the working environment group.
• Information on the evacuation concept and instructions regarding jackets will be given to the working environment group.

3. Evacuation stand

You should find out where the closest evacuation box is located or situated.

4. Assembly point

You should find out where the nearest assembly point is.

5. Restricted access

Access to adjacent buildings will be restricted by observers to prevent unauthorized persons from entering the area during the drill.

6. Valuables

• Valuables can be taken to the assembly point during an announced drill.
• This cannot be recommended during actual, acute events.
• Instructions for Evacuation and Assembly Point Managers 

The evacuation manager (yellow jacket) has overall responsibility for getting people to vacate the area and searching for it for anyone left behind. This information is to be conveyed to the assembly point manager.  The evacuation manager would do well to delegate tasks to maintain an overview of the area.

1. Put on your yellow jacket for the evacuation
2. Alert everyone in your evacuation area
3. Make sure that a sweep of your area is carried out (see the plan overleaf)
4. Make sure everyone leaves the area and goes to the assembly point
5. Tell all adjacent areas to evacuate
6. Take care of your safety
7. Go to the assembly point and make a status report to the assembly point manager (orange jacket) regarding the sweep of your area and whether everyone has come out.
8. Inform local management as soon as this becomes possible

The assembly point manager (orange jacket) has the overall responsibility for being the as- assembly point for all those evacuated, for passing on the result of the emergency evacuation to the police/fire service and for reporting back to evacuees.

1. Put on your orange jacket for the evacuation
2. Go directly to the assembly point (see the plan overleaf)
3. Receive status reports from the evacuation manager present (yellow jackets) regarding the sweep of their areas and whether everyone has come out
4. Coordinate with the other assembly point managers (orange jackets)
5. Make immediate contact with the police or fire service chiefs present and give them a status report regarding the sweep of the area including whether everyone has come out
6. Ensure that the evacuees are kept informed

Download File

Evacuation Drills Procedure 
Emergency Evacuation Report Form