Every building has an evacuation drill process, after talking to hundreds of customers over the past few months about evacuation drills I can see the level of process, accountability and systems vary dramatically from one building to another. Multiple location companies have different systems for individual locations creating no consistency with the process. Some companies completely outsource the process.
What is the difference between a Floor Warden and a Chief Warden? and who is a Deputy Floor Warden? Many companies have multiple Floor Wardens and Chief Wardens, you need to take into account employees being on holiday or calling in sick, you do not want to find yourself running your first evacuation drill only to have key people missing, you need back up.
Lets run through the roles typically associated with each of these roles.
FLOOR WARDEN
First a floor warden must be familiar with all of the procedures for an evacuation drill including The operation of the fire alarm system or emergency warning system. The Floor Wardens must also be familiar with any equipment that must be used in the event of an emergency. Floor Warden as the name suggests is for a person or persons who will manage a floor of a building or a zone of the building. Typically a building will have multiple floor wardens this in itself creates communication issues when running an evacuation drill in large buildings.
The Floor Warden must understand the exit routes and backup exit routes out of the building in the event of an emergency as the floor wardens will often be guiding visitors employees and contractors out of the building. The floor wardens must also know who may need assistance….how can you be alerted about the people that need help?
Once a Floor Warden has cleared their floor they can go and assist other Floor Wardens to clear their floors. Floor Wardens may also be required to carry out the initial fire fighting procedures running fire extinguishers to assist bring the situation under control.
Watch a short 4 minute video showing how evacuation management has now gone electronic giving Floor Wardens tools to manage the evacuation process easier than ever before with detailed after the event reporting.
What Roles does a Floor Warden have in an emergency?
- Once aware of an emergency commence to evacuate the Floor Wardens Floor or Zone
- Commence communication with the Chief Warden to provide updates
- Confirm with the Chief Warden your floor is clear and asked what else can I do to help
DEPUTY FLOOR WARDEN
A Deputy Floor warden needs to step up when the Floor Warden is not available through leave or sickness or has been injured during the emergency. A Deputy Floor Warden takes on the role of Floor Warden in the absence of the Floor Warden. During an emergency where the Floor Warden is available the Deputy Floor Warden will assist in all of the duties to clear the floor or zone.
CHIEF FLOOR WARDEN
The Chief Floor Warden typically triggers the event, commences communication with all of the Floor Wardens and ensure the procedures are being followed as the building is cleared. the Chief Floor Warden will bring together all of the available information to confirm the building is clear of visitors, contractors and employees.
Any Floor Warden with the correct training can step up and be the Chief Floor Warden on the day of an evacuation where the Chief Floor Warden is absent.
How can you clear the employees, visitors and contractors in your building? How can you know who is safe and who is missing? After talking to hundreds of customers it is clear that very few have good structured practices for evacuation management, multiple floor wardens in large buildings with one visitor book, a print out of employees and a contractor book can be very awkward to manage, almost impossible I say.
What if you could have multiple floor wardens all with an app on their phone confirming people safe all at the same time that also provided a centralized place for communication between all floor wardens?
Book in a demonstration of the Visitor Management Software including the evacuation module