EMERGENCY EVACUATION POLICY
Statement of Intent
Nelmes Pre-School believes that children’s safety is of paramount importance. We ensure that our premises present no risk of fire by ensuring the highest possible standard of fire precautions. Staff are familiar with the current legal requirements. We have sought the advice of a Fire Safety Office of the London Fire Brigade and from that advice have compiled a detailed Fire Risk Assessment.
Fire Safety
The basis of fire safety is risk assessment. These are carried out by Cheryl Kelly, the Health and Safety Officer. She is competent to carry out these duties and has received appropriate training. Risk assessments will be written where there are more than five staff.
· Fire doors are clearly marked, never obstructed and easily opened from the inside
· Smoke detectors/alarms and fire fighting appliances conform to BSEN standards, and are electronically linked. The building is checked for fire risk and health and safety by the Church Synod Inspectors.
Emergency Evacuation Procedure
If a complete premises evacuation needs to take place all children will be walked to Hornchurch Library in Billett Lane, Hornchurch where parents and carers can collect their children.
Our emergency evacuation procedures are approved by the Health & Safety Officer, Cheryl Kelly and are clearly displayed on the premises. New members of staff receive verbal and fire evacuation instruction and this is practised regularly, at least twice a term. Records are kept of all fire drills. Fire alarms are tested weekly by the Church.
· Children are introduced to the sound of the fire alarm through a whistle
· Children, staff and parents are introduced to the emergency exits through regular fire drills
· In case of an emergency, the Manager/Deputy inside the building will call all children in the pre-school room to line up immediately, count heads and lead them through the nearest emergency exit to the assembly point on the playground, taking the register (which includes details of visitors) and emergency contact details with her. Any children in the toilets must be called back immediately, if it is safe to do so, and led to the assembly point with the other children.
· If there are any children in the outdoor play area, a second member of staff will call all these children to line up immediately, count heads and lead them to the assembly point.
· The Manager/Deputy will take the register to ensure that all children are accounted for and check that all staff and visitors are also accounted for.
· Under no circumstances should anyone return to a burning or dangerous building to search for anyone unaccounted for. The emergency services should be informed immediately if they need to search for anyone.
· Children will be walked to Hornchurch Library in Billet Lane, Hornchurch for safety and should be collected by parents from there.
· The normal evacuation time during practice is 2 minutes.
· In the event of a real fire, the Manager/Deputy should call the emergency services, while the register is being taken. The priority is to evacuate everyone safely and to keep children calm.
· In the event of a real emergency, parents should be called as soon as possible to collect their children, using the contact list brought out with the register.
At all times, staff will follow the advice of the emergency services.
Fire Drill Record
The fire drill record book is kept in the bottom drawer of the storage unit next to the main desk and must contain:
· Date and time of the drill
· How long it took
· Whether there were any problems that delayed evacuation
· Any further action taken to improve the drill procedure
