We have recently been working on a few new and existing buildings in relation to their Emergency Plans. During these projects we have been told a number of times that their panel "can only go straight to evacuate", or "there was a new standard which says it has to go straight to evacuate".
We thought this was a bit strange, as there are some instances where going straight to evacuate may not be the best course of action, so we have done some digging...
Requirements
Let's start with the Building Code. This determines the type of system which must be installed within your particular building/s.
We'll restrict our look into Volume 1 of the building code as it deals with the most likely types of buildings business will be occupying.
In the BCA Volume 1, Section E4.9 Emergency warning and intercom systems (EWIS) specifies the EWIS must be installed in a particular set of buildings (check out the code linked in references below for details) and must comply with AS 1670.4 Fire detection, warning, control and intercom systems—System design, installation and commissioning - Part 4: Emergency warning and intercom systems.
If we look at AS 1670.4 there are three sections relevant to the timing of the evacuate signal:
Section 4.3 Delay before entering emergency condition, says the following (summarised):
- A delay can be put in place before the EWIS moves to an emergency warning condition (e.g. alarm or evacuation signals being produced) to investigate the cause of the alarm
- This delay must be documented in the emergency management plan, however, cannot exceed 10 minutes.
- A Manual Call Point (MCP) must be provided to override the delay.
- This delay would be set to 0 minutes (e.g. instantly) if no emergency management plan exists.
Section 4.4 Alert signal duration in automatic mode, says the following (summarised):
- An alert signal can be used, and it will continue to operate until it is cancelled or automatically moves to an evacuate signal after a prescribed time.
- The prescribed time is specified in the emergency management plan, however, cannot exceed 10 minutes.
- The alert signal is for the purpose of alerting the ECO to move to their designated positions for evacuation.
Finally, Section 4.5 Evacuate signal, says the following (summarised):
- The maximum time from receipt of an alarm signal to the evacuation signal being broadcast is 10 minutes (including any time allocated in Section 4.3 and 4.4 above)
- The evacuate signal will be broadcast to all emergency zones simultaneously (unless a phases/cascading evacuation has been documented)
Now, the definition of an emergency management plan is hard to find, however, the best interpretation we have is in AS 3745 Planning for emergencies in facilities, which says:
"1.4.9 Emergency plan - The written documentation of the emergency arrangements for a facility, generally made during the planning process. It consists of the preparedness, prevention and response activities and includes the agreed emergency roles, responsibilities, strategies, systems and arrangements."
One final note - we did check through the QLD Work Health and Safety Regulations and QLD Building Fire Safety Regulations and didn't find any reference to the alert/evacuation tones, and instead we point again to the emergency plans.
Evacuate Early
The standards indicate a shift to move to the evacuation tone as quickly as possible, which is a positive move in the preservation of life, as the faster the occupants of a building can be evacuated if there is an emergency, the better the overall result. We would support this move in the majority of situations where investigation or Emergency Control Organisation (ECO) maneuvering are not required.
Immediate evacuation, however, is not the best option in all cases, which is why there is an allowance for both investigations of the particular alarm situation and also allowance for an alert to be used to prepare for an evacuation.
Emergency Management Plan (EMP)
It all hinges around your emergency management plan (EMP), which needs to be planned and designed in consultation with your Emergency Planning Committee and take into account such things as the type of work, the expected occupants of the building, the purpose of the building, access/egress pathways etc. (further factors are discussed in AS 3745 Planning for emergencies in facilities).
The planning and development stage should identify areas where you may need to investigate the cause of an alarm (e.g. plant rooms, areas of frequent false alarms) and also whether you want to use an alert tone to get your Emergency Control Organisation into position. This is the information your Fire Equipment Installers need to be consulted on so the Emergency Warning and Intercommunication System can be set up to suit your organisation and the characteristics of the building.
Summary
When I went into researching this topic, I had no idea of the rabbit hole it would become (some of the standards cross-reference multiple other standards, the BCA is not the clearest document to follow etc.). The information I have collated is a precis of what I have found and suits the "ideal" situation. Keep in mind you may have old equipment which may not have the capability of delays or alert signals, which is why you need to consult with your Fire Equipment Installers.
Unfortunately, we can't address every conceivable mixture of organisation, building and usage, which is why I have the following recommendations:
- Review your EMP to ensure it suits the organisation, building and usage - in particular, get your fire equipment installer to confirm what alarm sequence is in use and whether it can be adjusted.
- Have your fire installer activate an alarm for you so you can see it in action (we have had at least one instance where what we were told it would do did not match what actually happened).
- Coincide this with training for your ECO or an evacuation drill to add further value to managing your fire safety obligations.
My final thought is this, no matter what your fire panel does, we need to ensure the Emergency Management Plan suits the particular situation you have, so if you haven't done so recently, review your plan, train your ECO in its usage and run a drill - you may be surprised at what you find.
PS - A quick shout out to the guys over at Firewize, whose blog post "Evacuation Tones in Aged Care Facilities" started me down the right path and saved me a lot of research time. The standards have changed, however the overall intent has pretty much remained the same.
Cheers, Ben
Total Management and Training has qualified Fire Safety Advisers who are more than happy to assist you with reviewing your emergency plans and ensuring you have a process which works for your business, your customers and your team. Give us a call on 07 4051 6357 or email for further information.
References
National Construction Code Building Code of Australia 2019 - Volume 1 https://ncc.abcb.gov.au/ncc-online/NCC
AS 1670.4 Fire detection, warning, control and intercom systems—System design, installation and commissioning - Part 4: Emergency warning and intercom systems https://infostore.saiglobal.com/en-au/Standards/AS-1670-4-2018-101093_SAIG_AS_AS_2695439/
AS 3745 Planning for emergencies in facilities https://infostore.saiglobal.com/en-au/standards/as-3745-2010-amdt-2-2018-122637_SAIG_AS_AS_281639/
Firewize Blog "Evacuation Tones in Aged Care Facilities" - http://firewize.com/blog/2014/09/evacuation-tones-aged-care-facilities