Fire Drills (or planned evacuations) will be carried out in all residential buildings on campus during the first 2 terms of each academic year. Additionally, Fire Drills will also be carried out for all academic/commercial buildings throughout the year.

For each fire drill a Fire Evacuation Observation Form will be completed and actions or lessons learnt from the drill will be disseminated to departments.

Fire drills help prepare staff and students to respond quickly, calmly, and safely to potential fire situations on campus. The more prepared we all are for the event of fire, the more effective our response will be.

The drills will normally be held without prior warning, unless there is a specific need to inform occupants for safety reasons.

The objectives of the fire drills are to:

make sure that all staff and students understand how to leave the building in an orderly fashion, avoiding the possibility of panic in an emergency, make sure local arrangements are in place for assembly points and ‘next steps’ in the event of a fire, evaluate the effectiveness of fire warden provision within all departments, evaluate arrangements for those with limited mobility or with a particular need for assistance in a fire situation, make sure that fire safety measures and systems in the building are working correctly,