how often should fire drills be carried out in a factory employing approx 600 workers?

Question

I work in a factory which employs 600 people,most of which do not speak english and do not know the fire drill as they have never been involved in one,the reason they have never practiced one is because the company have not practiced a full fire evacuation drill for about 3 years and the foreign people that work in the factory (400-450 ) have not been employed by the company for this amount of time.is the company breaking the law.

Answer 1

Factories... Use Group F (F1 and F2), single story, with an occupant load of 500 or less is not even required to have a fire alarm much less fire drills. (ICC 907.2.4). I simplified that a little bit.

So the real question is does this factory have all 600 employees working at the same time, or does it run shifts? If they keep the occupant load under 500, then no, no fire alarm and no drills.

If they do have a fire alarm system, then it is required to be tested at least once a year (NFPA 72). However, there is nothing requiring a factory to actually have a drill, although they are required to conduct safety training so employees know what to do in the event of a fire. (OSHA)

Answer 2

Any company employing more than 5 people must exercise a duty of care toward their employees. This would include a fire policy which everyone needs to be made aware of and fire wardens designated. The company I worked for previous used to test the alarm every Monday @ 0900 (no action) and carry out a fire drill on a monthly basis. In the event of a fire in your factory and loss of life I would suggest the Director responsible for safety and the Safety Officer would be in a difficult situation and are leaving themselves open to Corporate Manslaughter charges.

Answer 3

No doubt if you were ever to have a fire resulting in fatalities someone would definately find themselves in court.
Surely you have inspections from HSE and your Fire Service who would higlight the importance of fire precations and evacuation procedures.
Regular fire test are essential to these people and remember that immigrants will not probably know what a fire alarm is.
I suggest for around 600 people the more evacuations you have a month the better, i would personnaly aim for about two or three.
I think somebody should investigate this quick!!

Answer 4

In Ohio, it extremely is legally required to hold a hearth drill each calendar month that college is in consultation. in spite of if the college is barely in consultation for sooner or later that month, it extremely is had to have a hearth drill. Years in the past I worked for an administrator who substitute into very "resourceful" and could carry a hearth drill for workers contributors after college and count type it on his documentation sheet! He additionally could ring the bell at dismissal as a fashion to no longer waste class time or if he had waited until the top of the month and the climate substitute into undesirable.

Answer 5

fire drill once a week full evacuation drill at least 4 times a year

Answer 6

You should have a fire alarm test once a week and an evacuation once every few months.

Answer 7

i think there should be at least 6 a year, i would bring that to the attention of health and safety, as you have noticed, could you live a consience, if there was a fire when you have just pointed this out

Answer 8

two a year

Answer 9

Every half hour of every day. Can't be too careful.