Assembly point

[cazzer_uk]

Hello everyone. First post - be gentle!

For my sins I am (jointly) responsible for fire safety at my factory. We had a fire-drill recently at which one employee pointed out that the assembly point should be "at least 25m from the building".

We have no particular explosive hazards in our environment - is this correct? If it is, it would mean staff assembling on the other side of the road; a risk in its own right!

Any advice would be sincerely appreciated.

[John Webb]

I wonder if your employee has 'a little knowledge'? The figure quoted is suspiciously identical to the maximum travel distance of 25m laid down by Building Regulations for places with a single fire exit. IE inside a building you need to travel only 25m to the nearest sole final exit. Perhaps your employee has heard of this figure and assumes it means you should be 25m away from the building once outside!
I cannot see anything in the BR Approved Document B or in my downloads of some of the Guides on the new RR(FS)O about any minimum distance any assembly point should be at. Your Fire Risk Assessment under this new legislation should touch on the siting of such a point. It needs to be clear of the incoming fire service vehicles, far enough away that the building won't collapse on you or radiated heat set you alight and near enough that all can reach it quickly and easily for a roll-call, preferably without being exposed to any other peril.

[cazzer_uk]

Thank you John.

Yes, I'm aware of the 25m inside the building (I recently went on the course for the new regs) but I didn't make the connection. I think you may well be right. As it is, our employees gather at the far end of the car park; as far as practical from the building and away from the entrance (for fire appliances). It is probably about 15m from the structure of the building.

This employee is well versed in what we can and cannot do.....(!)

[Mike Buckley]

All the RRO calls for is for the assembly point to be "at a place of total safety" but it does not specify any distance.

Under the old Fire Precautions Act a place of ultimate safety was cosidered to be a place where people can disperse in open air and proceed a safe distance away.

Hence in my view an assembly point could be next to the building, provided people can move away from that point, in safety. So a point next to the building where people can walk away from the building across a road or a car park etc. would be safe, however a point in a courtyard, for example, where people would have to go towards the building to get away from the building ie through a gate next to the building would not be safe.

In short like everything else do a risk assessment.

[cazzer_uk]

Thank very much for your help. That was my understanding and interpretation too.

[Ken Taylor]

Whilst the Assembly Point could initially be next to the building, you really need to take John's points into consideration - particularly with reference to proximity to windows, exit doors, balconies and any other potential more immediate risks to persons assembled there while there is a fire in the building. It is usually beneficial to be able to keep the evacuated persons together in order to account for them and subsequent further movement away from an Assembly Point could lose this advantage. It is also normal to use the Assembly Point during practice evacuation drills so that occupants become familiar with where they should go in the event of fire - so an Assembly Point that serves for both drills and real fires should be selected. I would certainly try to have an Assembly Point that doesn't involve crossing a busy road - but in the end it comes down to informed judgement by a competent person that best provides for the safety of those involved (and stands up to scrutiny).

[jokar]

My only point would be thta if the assembly point is at the far end of the car park, can people move away from there or must they go back towards the building to move away.  Dead ends are not good assembly points.

[cazzer_uk]

No, it's not a dead-end. The car park has a separate entrance and exit. The assembly point is by the car park exit, allowing the entrance to be used by fire appliances. The employees would assemble at the car park exit - they are not trapped and could easily cross the road onto waste ground beyond.