The American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS) hosted a seminar in Chicago regarding security practices in a high rise environment this week. During this seminar. Titan’s Vice President of Security Services, Bill Leap, presented on high rise building evacuations. The following is a summary of his presentation.
High rises are buildings are classified as being greater than 80 feet with multiple occupied floors. They have a high number of people in a small footprint. The building also has egress at the lower or ground levels. High rise buildings are also among the safest buildings in the event of fire due to 94% of fires being confined to the room or origin and 98% of fires in high rise buildings are extinguished by sprinklers prior to the fire department’s arrival.
Every high rise building should have an emergency action plan in place. This is a detailed document describing the emergency systems and procedures of the building that will be used by building management, local authorities, first responders, and security during an emergency. It should be practiced regularly with tenants. The plan should include:
- Fire Prevention Plan
- Essential Building Information
- Emergency Procedures
- Emergency Response Team
- Evacuation Methods
- Communications
The Emergency Response Team (ERT) each play a vital part in the emergency plan. Each person who is part of this team should know the emergency plan. Positions on this team include but aren’t limited to:
- Fire Safety Director
- Building Evacuation Supervisor
- Floor Wardens
- Searchers
- Elevator Monitors
- Stairwell Monitors
- Aides for the Physically Challenged