fire safety policy - appendices

8/7/2019 Fire Safety Policy - Appendices

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APPENDIX 1 toThe Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust

Fire Safety Policy

FIRE INSTRUCTION NOTICERaising the alarmThere are three means of raising the fire alarm:

1. Verbally: Shout FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!

2. Manually: By breaking the glass of the nearest call point

3. Automatically: By smoke and heat detection

If you Discover or Suspect a Fire:

1. Sound the alarm verbally as described above

2. Remove anyone in immediate danger and close the door

3. Break the glass of the nearest fire alarm call point

4. Dial 2222 and advise the switchboard of the location & nature of the fire

5. Fight the fire (if it is safe to do so) using available fire-fighting equipment

Action By Persons Hearing the Fire Alarm:

Intermittent alarm: (The fire is in an adjacent area)

Close all doors and windowsNon-essential Clinical Staff

Report, to the nearest fire alarm panel and wait there for instructions

All other staffRemain where you are

Continuous alarm: (The fire is in this area)

Check your working area, if you discover a fire, deal with it as described above

If you do not discover a fire, report to head of department and assist

Head of Department/Senior Person:If the cause is apparent Evacuate beyond at least one set of fire doors

If the cause is not apparent Prepare to evacuate

Hand over to the Fire Team on their arrival

IN THE EVENT OF A COMPLETE EVACUATION BEING

ORDERED BY THE FIRE TEAM OR FIRE SERVICE

YOUR ASSEMBLY POINT IS

THE ADJACENT CAR PARK


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Fire Safety Policy

FIRE RESPONSE TEAMS

INITIAL RESPONSE TEAM:

Initial response to a fire alarm between 08.00 and 17.00 Monday to Friday will involve:

Those persons in the affected area and, as well as an automatic request for assistance from the

Fire Service, a small rapid response team formed by key personnel led by a manager from within

the affected wing of the hospital.

Initial response to a fire alarm between 17.00 and 08.00 Monday to Friday, Weekends and

Bank Holidays, will involve:

Those persons in the affected area and, as well as an automatic request for assistance from theFire Service, the same rapid response team formed by key personnel but led by a Site Practitioner.

WEST WING CENTRE EAST WING

Team

leader

SERCO Estates

Management

or

Site Practitioner

Team

leader

Pharmacy

Manager

or

Site Practitioner

Team

leader

RADIOGRAPHY

P.A.C.S Supervisor

or

Site Practitioner

Team

members

Security Team

members

Security Team

members

Security

Maintenance

Technician

Maintenance

Technician

Maintenance

Technician

Responsibilities of the Initial Response Team:

In response to an alert via the pager system to an incident in an occupied area:

1. Confirm location on nearest fire alarm panel

2. Proceed with caution to location

3. Check with H.O.D. or Senior Person situation so far:

Situation under control: Silence alarm

Situation needs further response: Dial 2222 and request:

Second call to fire service

Further assistance for Fire or Chemical spill


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Check that the affected area:

i) has been evacuated (and all occupants are in a safe area behind at least one set of fire

doors)

ii) has been cordoned off (position staff to ensure no-one can enter affected area)

Establish:

Control of entry to affected department (Use security staff)

Prepare:

For further evacuation (H.O.D responsibility)

In response to an alert via the pager system to an incident in an unoccupied area:

Meet security at the entrance to the area, allow the Fire Service entry and assist them as necessary

SPECIALIST RESPONSE TEAM:

In the event of the initial response team requesting further assistance, a specialist response team,

formed from key personnel with specific responsibility or specialist knowledge, will respond from

all parts of the building.

The team will consist of the following personnel or their deputies

Nominated Officer (fire)

Senior Nurse Manager

Senior Estates Officer

Clinical Manager Theatres

Risk Manager

Security Staff

Porters

The responsibility of the Specialist Response team is to manage the incident in association with

the Local Authority Emergency Services and to decide whether to initiate the MAJAX plan.

All response team members will be issued with designated proximity cards.


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Fire Safety Policy

PROCEDURE FOR SWITCHBOARD STAFF IN RESPONSE TO A FIRE ALARM

In response to a fire alarm indication at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitalswitchboard staff should:

(If the alert is received directly via 2222 request the caller to sound the fire alarm)

1. Dial 999 and inform Fire Service Control that:

THE FIRE ALARM IS SOUNDING IN

(Give location as shown on panel)

THE NORFOLK & NORWICH UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL,

COLNEY LANE, NORWICH

RENDEZVOUS POINT (as shown on panel)

2. Initiate a FIRE GROUP pager message stating:

FIRE ALARM AT

(Give location shown on panel)

FIRST RESPONSE

3. Once further information is received via 2222 make a further 999 call and inform Fire Service

Control that:

THE INCIDENT REPORTED EARLIER AT

(as shown on panel)

IS CONFIRMED AS A FALSE ALARM

or

IS CONFIRMED AS A

(Give as much information as possible about the incident)

4. If a request for assistance is received via 2222 from the first response team:

Initiate a FIRE GROUP pager message stating:

FIRE ALARM AT


CONFIRMED FIRE/CHEMICAL SPILL ETC.

SECOND RESPONSE

5. When information is received from the response team leader that the incident is terminated:

Initiate a FIRE GROUP pager message stating:

FIRE ALARM AT


TERMINATED

TEAM LEADER TO SWITCHBOARD TO COMPLETE REPORT


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Fire Safety Policy

FIRE EVACUATION PLANS

The need for evacuation of large numbers of beds or of large areas of the hospital is minimised by

the incorporation of passive and active fire safety measures into the design and construction of the

building.

Using the building in accordance with design principles and following the requirements of this

policy will ensure that the possibility of large scale evacuation is minimised.

Aims:

The primary aims of evacuation are:

a) to remove all occupants, within the affected area, from immediate danger;

b) to keep the distance of any movement as short as possible;

c) to avoid routes which may need to be used by the emergency services;

d) to remove patients to a safe area remote from the fire and suitable for their comfort and

continued treatment, possibly for a prolonged period.

e) to remove visitors to a safe area, from which they can proceed to the fire assembly points

in the ground floor atria and adjacent car parks.

Method:

The evacuation method employed in the hospital is that of Progressive Horizontal Evacuation,

the principle of which is to move the patients from an area affected by fire, through a fire-resisting

barrier to an adjoining area (refuge) on the same level. The refuge is designed to protect the

occupants from the immediate dangers of fire and smoke while the fire is dealt with or decisions

are made with regard to further evacuation if necessary.

In the first instance patients should be moved from the room affected by fire in the most expedient

way possible. This may involve moving the beds, transferring patients to wheelchairs or simply

encouraging and assisting ambulant patients to leave. Once the initial evacuation has taken place

the need for further movement can be assessed.

In most instances there will be no need to progress the evacuation further, however, if the need

arises the following points should be considered:

(1) Does the refuge have the necessary facilities for a prolonged situation

(2) Do you have to pass an area of higher risk on route

(3) Does the refuge offer the opportunity for further evacuation if necessary

The following pages detail the direction of evacuation for all departments. More details are

available in department policies or on the Trust Intranet.


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Fire Safety Policy

CHEMICAL SPILL PLAN

To Be Issued

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