What Is a Fire Assembly Point and Why Must a Business Designate It?

When fire breaks out in premises, the most important thing is for people to get to safer locations as soon as possible. Fire outbreaks can cause serious injuries and also loss of life. Building fire safety is never clearly understood until that time when fire strikes. There is a need for all persons in the workplace or even in households to clearly understand what a fire assembly point is? This is because; a successful evacuation and fire safety plan is partly determined by how people respond by getting to safer locations when fire breaks out.

In a bid to understand What a fire assembly point is?, it is important to point out that it is not just a safe location within the workplace or household but it is a specially designated open location where people can congregate in the event of a fire. This point should be easy to reach and also free from dangers of the fire. The main reason why people need to get to the fire assembly point is because it helps identify any missing persons.

It is important that fire assembly signs be well designed with clear visibility. They should be able to guide the persons to safety without any problem. In Britain, there were reportedly 388 fire related deaths in 2010-11, and this implies that fires are still a challenge to many households and business premises with the risk of being able to take away life.

There are different ways in which the effects of fires can be managed and use of fire safety signs is one of them. There are also different fire safety signs, which can be used and these may range from prohibitive signs, descriptive signs, and warning signs, to directional signs. When workers and home occupants understand the importance of a fire assembly point and which signs show this critical safety location, they are able to respond fast in the event of an outbreak of fire.

When fire safety signs are installed, there is need for them to be maintained as part of the safety plans, businesses can organize training and education sessions to help the people understand all signs in the premises, where they are placed and what they represent. Where possible, a mock fire safety escape can be carried out to gauge how prepared a business is and how well the workers can respond to fire outbreaks.

This can easily bring out any notable weaknesses in the state of the signage and also the understanding of the different fire safety elements such as the fire fighting equipment and their usage. In addition, with such mock fire safety assessments, the emergency response team can evaluate whether people really know where the fire assembly points are.

The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996, brings out a clear definition of the different safety signs and how they are applied. There is also regulatory information about the design and use of these signs. The dedicated colors, which are mandated by the law, are prescribed. When you get signs designed and installed by professional designers, you ensure that you are compliant with the law and that people can easily understand the signs and their usage.