In accordance with state law, we must conduct fire drills in every building once a year. These drills are an important component of campus safety, as they familiarize our community with the audio and visual alarms in their building, as well as refresh our memory on where to evacuate from the floor and gather once out of the building. As part of HSC’s continuing commitment to safety, the well-being of our community and to remain compliant with state code, the Environmental Health and Safety Office will be conducting active fire drills using the fire alarm systems in the buildings.
To meet the standard of the code — but limit disruptions to business continuity — the fire drills will be announced well in advance to mitigate any conflicts. Occupants will NOT need to fully exit the buildings into the parking lots. On the day and posted time of a fire drill, Safety personnel will be assigned to each floor of the building. Before activation, Safety & Operations personnel will walk the entire floor to remind everyone that the fire drill is imminent and will instruct people to gather at the first floor exits or the nearest stairwells for all other floors as soon as the alarm begins.
Again, occupants do not need to exit the building or enter the stairwell. To be compliant with the code, occupants need to show knowledge of egress but do not need to leave the building. Once each floor has been prepped, an announcement that the drill is starting will be sent over the building’s PA, and the fire alarm systems will be activated.
Occupants will notice both the audio and visual alarms will activate, and all fire doors will release and close. Occupants will stop their tasks and walk to the nearest exit or stairwell and await guidance from the Safety personnel. At these exit points, occupants will note signage indicating where they would go if they had to fully evacuate to the outdoor gathering points in an actual emergency. Once the alarm is activated, the Safety team will quickly check the audio/visual alarms and fire doors to ensure they are functioning properly. After all fire safety components have been checked, an announcement over the building’s PA will declare the end of the drill, and all occupants can resume their activities. The fire drills should take approximately 10 minutes using this format. All buildings will take part in the drill annually with the exception of the Lena Pope Daycare Center (monthly).
Below is the anticipated annual schedule for fire drills on campus:
January: Medical Education and Training (MET)
February: Center for BioHealth (CBH)
March: No Drill
April: No Drill
May: Interdisciplinary Research and Education Building (IREB)
June: Health Pavilion (HP)
July: Everett Education and Administration (EAD)
August: Gibson D. Lewis Library (LIB)
September: No Drill
October: Research and Education (RES)
November: PD, Healthy Start, Professional Offices, Women’s Center, FAC, FMB/GSB and SSC
December: No Drill
At the beginning of each month, an email and a post in the Daily Newsletter will go out to the HSC community highlighting our selected building(s) for that month, detailing the timing of the fire drill and providing a link to this page. Below, staff can find floor maps detailing each floor of our selected building(s) for the month. These maps will clearly show points of egress and safety equipment locations so occupants can refamiliarize themselves with their environment.
October’s Fire Drill is the Research & Education Building (RES)
Please click on the links below to access this building’s floor maps and assembly areas:
Research and Education – RES
Emergency Assembly Areas