It is important to ensure you carry out fire drills as part of your fire safety management procedures. We would normally recommend these are carried out twice yearly although this can be reduced to once a year for certain premises.
For care homes and other premises where you have bed bound residents, you can consider carrying out table-top fire dills whereby all staff members discuss the evacuation procedure during a meeting where you can refer to floor plans and ensure all staff members are familiar with the policy.
It is a good idea to block off a fire exit during a fire drill to ensure all occupants can safely locate and use another fire exit. This is because during a real fire situation, you may not be able to rely upon every fire exit and occupants must be familiar with all ways out of a building. The fire exit that is blocked off can be changed each time you carry out a fire drill.
Just remember to unblock it once the drill is complete!
Stay safe
Richard
Director
