Construction Site Fire Emergency Procedures

On all construction sites, workers must be given a warning of fire:

(image shows typical fire action notice)

• Certain sites might need a temporary hard-wired linked system which can be operated from callpoints, this depends on their size and nature. These may be handbells, whistles, claxons or manually operated sounders.
• Manually operated devices are often used where they can be accessed at all times. There should also be multiple provisions of these.
• Provisions of manually operated devices should be in an enclosed building and it should be the subject of a specific fire risk assessment. These have the potential to cause delays while trying to escape.
• Projects which use remotely monitored and wireless alarm fire systems should consider that the signalling system should stay uninterrupted throughout the work duration. Electronic alarms are more preferred to manual alarms.

 

Written emergency procedures need to be displayed in obvious and sensible locations, they must also be given to all the employees on the site. The procedures shouldn’t be unclear or hard to read, they need to be clear to read. Employees also need to know the assembly points in case of evacuations.

All nominated personnel’s, such as security guards, would need to be briefed on providing clear access to the entire site if an emergency happens.

In the events of a fire, contractors should make sure that all their personnel on the site have been accounted for. This information can then be passed on to the site security staff as soon as possible.

The main contractor should ensure all the members of the workforce on the project and make them aware of the procedures and their duties. This is often done as inductions, refresher courses or other suitable processes.

Emergency procedures should be tested by regular fire drills, these should be done at least every six months by evacuating the entire building to the assembly point. Observations made during these tests should be noted down in a fire log book or a similar document. If any appropriate changes are made, these should also be noted down.