Fire Assembly Points

[iced1959]

I am looking to move our current assembly points as they are becoming unsuitable. Are there any guidelines indicating how far away an assembly point should be from a building and restrictions about crossing a single carraigeway road.

Any feedback would be appreciated

Many Thanks

Neil

[Chris Houston]

For fire, my personal opinion is that they should be ideally about 100m from the building, 50m as a minimum.  Crossinng roads is not ideal, but is sometimes necessary.  Good use of fire marshals to direct people is important.

You may need another assembly point for bomb/chemical attack more like 500m/1000m away, of course equaly you may "stay put" in the event of a chemical attack, depending on the type of attack.

[nearlythere]

It is all about sourcing a safe and suitable assembly point. Assembly points should be in a safe location where the assemblees are in no danger from the emergency and are in no danger from any emergency vehicles which may  attend the incident. You would have to take into consideration the type of persons involved and the likelihood of evacuation during inclement weather conditions and during the hours of darkness. The assembly point should be safely and easily accessed especially for disabled persons.
Assembly points are rendez-vous areas where it can be immediately determined if everyone is out of the building.
You will then have to look at what to do with these people, especially staff, when the head count is complete. You can't leave them out in the rain or snow for possibly hours on end. Either send them home or to a more comfortable environment. They are still entitled to the comforts of the office.

[kurnal]

And don forget to ensure that if your assembly point is a long way away theres someone around to meet and brief the fire service and stop people re-entering the building.

[fsamky]

hello guys Ive just signed up here but already have a question regarding fire assembly points. Can anyone tell me what is the minimum distance an assembly point should be from an oil tank which is situated beside a building? The fuel being used is kerosene (home heating oil).

[kurnal]

Not usually an issue. How far is the proposed assembly point from the main building itself? And how far is the kerosene tank from the building?

Usually you are most  unlikely to have a fire in the kerosene tank at the same time as a fire in the building- if the tank is right next to the building then it may be an issue. The assembly point should be at least as far from the building as the building is high, or even 1.5 times the height of the building.

[Midland Retty]

I seem to remember a rule-of-thumb calculation regarding siting of fire assembly points. (Not sure where it came from or if it's correct)

It goes along the lines that an assembly point should be at least 3/4 the height of the building away from the premises.

Other points:-

Consider the fact that windows can shatter in fire showering evacuees etc.

Be mindful of where fire appliances are likely to approach from. In schools, establishments for mentally impaired, residential care premsies etc  assembling on car parks maybe unwise as appliances may pull up there / lots of firefighters running about with equipment etc.

Consider the lighting available to teh fire assembly point - no good if its pitch black so consider torches or fixed lighting. Whether they need to be emergency lighting is an issue for the risk assessment.

[nearlythere]

hello guys Ive just signed up here but already have a question regarding fire assembly points. Can anyone tell me what is the minimum distance an assembly point should be from an oil tank which is situated beside a building? The fuel being used is kerosene (home heating oil).

I agree with Kurnal in that it is not really an issue. The main issue with a tank of heating oil is to protect it from a fire. If people can stand near to or beside an oil tank then we could safely assume that it is not at risk otherwise they would not be there.