Some buildings are more hazardous than others. However, regardless of the its location or purpose, any building needs to take precautions for safety. There are many different situations in which an apartment building, and office building, or any other type of building might need to be evacuated, such as a fire, a blackout, an intruder, or some type of chemical being released into the air. If a building has emergency exit signs with lights, it will be much easier to safely and quickly evacuate people.
The most commonly thought of emergency is usually a fire. Fires can cause blackouts, but blackouts can also happen on their own. In a building that has many floors and therefore many flights of stairs, this can be one of the most dangerous things to occur. Lighted signs could make it much easier to find the way out when the building's regular lighting has failed.
Here are some other tips for preparing your building for emergencies:
1. Be sure that all exits are available and accessible. Oftentimes, emergency exits are blocked by large garbage cans or storage shelves, because they are not used very often. Sometimes they are located in locked stairwells. This renders them completely useless, as no one has time to fumble with keys or move heavy equipment out of the way when trying to make a quick getaway. Make sure these exits are accessible at all times.
2. Develop an organized evacuation plan. When people become frightened, they often erupt into chaos. This can make a dangerous situation even more dangerous. In order to prevent, or at least mitigate, chaos, create a plan that will tell people specifically where to go and how to get out of the building. There should be at leas one person from every floor who is a leader and is particularly familiar with this plan.
3. Educate the necessary people about that plan. Once or twice a year, have a meeting of the people in your building who have been designated to serve as leaders in evacuations and/or emergencies. Use this time to make sure these people are familiar with their duties, and to bring them up to date on any changes to the plan. Make sure someone on each floor of the building knows what is going on. If one of these designated leaders leaves or can no longer fill the position, put a new person in the position immediately.
4. Post instructions around the building. Having responsible leaders on each floor will certainly make procedures run more smoothly. However, realistically, in an evacuation situation, you may have people moving so quickly that they do not stick around to hear instructions. This is one of the reasons that it is helpful to post instructions for evacuation around the building. This, combined with the presence if informed leaders, will help to decrease chaos.
Evacuation plans are one of those things that need to be in place even though we hope they never become necessary. The same is true for safety precautions such as fire alarms and emergency exit signs with lights. All of these things contribute to peace of mind for everyone in the building. It helps to know that they are there, should they be needed.
The most commonly thought of emergency is usually a fire. Fires can cause blackouts, but blackouts can also happen on their own. In a building that has many floors and therefore many flights of stairs, this can be one of the most dangerous things to occur. Lighted signs could make it much easier to find the way out when the building's regular lighting has failed.
Here are some other tips for preparing your building for emergencies:
1. Be sure that all exits are available and accessible. Oftentimes, emergency exits are blocked by large garbage cans or storage shelves, because they are not used very often. Sometimes they are located in locked stairwells. This renders them completely useless, as no one has time to fumble with keys or move heavy equipment out of the way when trying to make a quick getaway. Make sure these exits are accessible at all times.
2. Develop an organized evacuation plan. When people become frightened, they often erupt into chaos. This can make a dangerous situation even more dangerous. In order to prevent, or at least mitigate, chaos, create a plan that will tell people specifically where to go and how to get out of the building. There should be at leas one person from every floor who is a leader and is particularly familiar with this plan.
3. Educate the necessary people about that plan. Once or twice a year, have a meeting of the people in your building who have been designated to serve as leaders in evacuations and/or emergencies. Use this time to make sure these people are familiar with their duties, and to bring them up to date on any changes to the plan. Make sure someone on each floor of the building knows what is going on. If one of these designated leaders leaves or can no longer fill the position, put a new person in the position immediately.
4. Post instructions around the building. Having responsible leaders on each floor will certainly make procedures run more smoothly. However, realistically, in an evacuation situation, you may have people moving so quickly that they do not stick around to hear instructions. This is one of the reasons that it is helpful to post instructions for evacuation around the building. This, combined with the presence if informed leaders, will help to decrease chaos.
Evacuation plans are one of those things that need to be in place even though we hope they never become necessary. The same is true for safety precautions such as fire alarms and emergency exit signs with lights. All of these things contribute to peace of mind for everyone in the building. It helps to know that they are there, should they be needed.
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