The Alarm That Cried Wolf
Do you remember the fire drills you used to do at school? As a kid, I thought they were a waste of time but hey, they got us out of the classroom for a while!
I have a different opinion about fire drills now and fire alarms, particularly after the Loafers Lodge incident reports from Wellington. Experience has also upgraded my views on earthquake drills, intruder drills, CPR and first aid training.
One of the things I still have to get used to as a health and safety officer is that if I do my job well, nothing happens. How weird it is to take pride in nothing happening, unlike the alarm that kept going off with nothing happening until it did.
Mixed media reports state that the Loafers Lodge building was up to code, passed compliance inspections and had regular fire drills. However, the building was aged, lacked modern fire safety equipment, had exit doors shut off due to break-ins, and people ignored the alarm that cried wolf too many times. Possibly the evacuation plan (if there was one) was not fit for purpose as some families claimed their loved ones were hard of hearing and wouldn’t hear the alarm anyway.
The loss of life, the forced homelessness and the consequential deprivation that has occurred is heartbreaking.
We have to think, are our buildings up to standard? Not just ticking the box but truly up to standard with all compliance checks up to date and truly fit-for-purpose. Do they work as they are supposed to?
Have we thought about the location of our buildings in tsunami zones or flood paths? Are our residential dwellings up to healthy home standards? Have we practised our evacuation plans and do they work? Will our people be safe when events turn to custard? Can we use our buildings to help respond to events? Are they fit for that purpose?
I recently met someone who has been a Civil Defence volunteer for over twenty years. During the first ten years, they never had to deploy to any emergency. Since the Christchurch quakes, they have deployed at least once a year, every year. Their personal forecasting says the number of events per year will continue. Are our buildings still fit for purpose?
I am not trying to be the doom and gloom fairy but, unlike flooding, there are more actions we can take to make the mess less when it comes to fire. The outcomes from Loafers Lodge were avoidable and that’s what upsets me the most. They may be able to tick the official compliance boxes but official compliance is the lowest ‘pass’ standard there is and we can do better.
This year I will be checking the approved evacuation status for all relevant buildings within the Church – has every building got an evacuation scheme approved by Fire and Emergency NZ, and are the trials up to date? All of our churches and camps need one and most are unlikely to have one. Some churches even have approved evacuation schemes from the last century; those need replacing. Some evacuation schemes have had no recorded evacuation drills for over ten years; those need replacing too.
The outcome from Loafers Lodge was avoidable.
Let us learn the lesson because it was too expensive to ignore.
Whakatāharaharatia ngā aituā.
Make the mess less.
If you or your parish want to get involved in looking after others during disaster events, then contact your local Civil Defence team. Every local council supports a Civil Defence response team of some sort. They will be able to advise if your building can be used as a response centre, and they could probably advise on how your people can be organised as a response team as well.
www.methodist.org.nz/tangata/wellness-and-safety/emergency-response-plans/
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