Fire prevention is and remains an important part of a company's overall prevention policy. Just think of the fires that regularly make the news…
The code BOOK III WORKPLACES - Fire Prevention imposes a number of obligations on every employer to limit the risk of fire, or its consequences if something goes wrong.
Specifically, the employer is expected to take the necessary preventive measures to:
- Prevent fire
- Ensure safety and, if necessary, quickly evacuate everyone
- Fight a nascent fire quickly and efficiently
- Limit the harmful consequences of a fire
- Facilitate the intervention of emergency services
In addition to the necessary structural provisions such as compartmentation, material use, extinguishing agents…, good organisational measures form the basis of a sound and thorough fire prevention policy.
A firefighting service must be established within the company (regardless of the size of the company), an emergency plan is drawn up containing all necessary information and procedures in case of fire. Personnel must receive the necessary information and training regarding the measures taken, the evacuation routes, the assembly point,…
An essential part of this staff training consists of evacuation drills, which must be organized at least once a year. When organizing such an exercise, there are several points of attention and obligations to consider.
Prevent panic!
Let it be clear: practicing is necessary, but prevent panic! Not only within the company, but certainly also in the vicinity. During an evacuation drill, it is not inconceivable that someone nearby or a staff member alerts the emergency services, despite it being ‘just’ an exercise.
To prevent emergency services from deploying unnecessarily, it is not only necessary but also mandatory to inform them in advance.
How does the notification of an exercise to the emergency services work?
In all Flemish provinces, there is a mandatory notification for all fire tests and fire and evacuation drills. This applies to all companies and institutions.
A fire or evacuation drill must be reported via email to the 100/112 emergency centre at least 2 weeks before the drill. In the province of Flemish Brabant, this notification is made to the municipal emergency plan officer, who, after validation, will in turn pass this information on to the HC 100/112.
This notification form also includes a contact person who is responsible for the drill within the organisation. If calls come in from third parties or staff members who are not aware of the drill and if it is not clear to the HC operators whether it is actually an exercise, they will contact the contact person on the notification form. It is therefore extremely important that this person is reachable.
For every call from third parties reporting an incident at the location of the drill, where it is not clear whether it is related to the drill, and where no contact person can be reached to ask for feedback, this is considered a real call and the necessary resources are dispatched.
On the day of the drill itself, the HC112 must be contacted by phone to register and deregister the drill. You do this 5 minutes before and after the drill, respectively. Any calls received by HC112 between registration and deregistration at the drill location are considered part of the drill.
For more information or if you require support in organizing an evacuation drill, feel free to contact Premed via info@premed.be.
Source: Federal Public Service Home Affairs – Directorate General Civil Security
