Often when business owners consider evacuation testing, they often think of testing their fire alarms to ensure they work still, and any PA notification system which works with the fire alarm.
Don’t get me wrong, it is good to regularly test your fire alarm, where possible put the system into test mode around once a month to ensure it is working correctly.
How ever when the team at SGH Business Services talks about evacuation testing, we think of planning the time to test your systems, procedures and policies, with the least impact on your operations, however with ensuring we can train the majority of the staff to get the best outcomes of the test.
We believe this sort of test, should occur 1-2 times a year, to ensure it works to the best it ca work to, and to ensure everyone including any new staff are kept up to date and refresher their knowledge.
One of the reasons it is tested, it to ensure your business has the right people in the right jobs to ensure a evacuation goes to plan if it is ever required, it does not always need to be management etc in roles, there might be suitable staff who can act in particular warden roles or other roles, which can be sufficient.
Another reason for this sort of testing of our systems, is it can identify the skill gaps which might be there, and allow for more training in a particular area to ensure the tests go better in the future.
Using an external party might also assist with your insurance and OH&S/ WHS requirements, for your industry.
Please feel free to contact the team at SGH Business Services if you wish to know more about our services and how we can assist you here.
