Fire Safety & Emergency Evacuation Policy at Mulberry Garden
Mulberry Garden has emergency evacuation procedures in place to ensure the safety of children, staff and others at the Mulberry Garden premises in the case of a fire or other emergency. The designated fire marshal is Lucy Mumford.
We ensure Mulberry Garden premises are compliant with fire safety regulations, including following any major changes or alterations to the premises. The designated fire marshal ensures we have all the appropriate fire detection and control equipment, e.g. fire alarms, smoke detectors, fire blankets and/or fire extinguishers, are in working order and seeks advice from the local fire safety officer as necessary.
The fire marshal has overall responsibility for the fire drill and evacuation procedures. These are carried out and recorded for each group of children every month or as and when a large change occurs, e.g. a large intake of children or a new member of staff joins Mulberry Garden. These drills are planned to occur at different times of the day and on different days to ensure evacuations are possible under different circumstances and all children and staff participate in the rehearsals.
Staff receive fire safety and evacuation training as part of their induction, and at regular intervals, to ensure they understand their roles and responsibilities. This includes the steps they must take to ensure the safety of children, e.g. keeping fire doors free from obstruction, how to safely evacuate the children and the evacuation meeting point location. Each room has an evacuation plan, which includes information such as evacuating non-mobile babies and using alternative exits depending on where the fire may be situated.
The designated fire marshal checks fire detection and control equipment and fire exits in line with the timescales within the checklist below:
Who checks ✓ How often ✓ Location ✓
Escape route/fire exits (all fire exits clearly marked)
Fire extinguishers and blankets
Evacuation pack
Smoke/heat alarms
Fire alarms
Fire doors closed, in good repair
Fire doors free of obstruction, easy to open from the inside
A deputy fire marshal is appointed to oversee this role when the fire marshal is absent.
Registration
An accurate record of all staff and children present in the building must be kept at all times and children/staff must be marked in and out on arrival and departure. An accurate record of visitors is kept in the visitor’s book. These records are used with the register and emergency contacts list in the event of a fire.
No smoking/vaping policy
Mulberry Garden operates a no smoking/vaping policy.
Fire drill procedure
On discovering a fire:
● Calmly raise the alarm by *blowing the whistle/*ringing the bell/*breaking the alarm glass.
● Adults and children immediately evacuate the building under guidance from the fire marshal (collecting children’s room register, where applicable).
● Using the nearest accessible exit, staff lead the children out of the building and assemble at Mulberry Garden car park.
● All doors must be closed after exiting wherever possible.
● Baby room to use evacuation cots and exit via the back door.
● Toddler room exit via the evacuation door.
● Preschool exit via the back door, up to the top gate and meet in the car park.
● No-one should stop to collect personal belongings on evacuating the building.
● No-one must re-enter the building to fight the fire.
● No-one must re-enter the building if any children or adults are unaccounted for.
● Adults and children must wait for emergency services and report any unaccounted persons to the fire service/police.
If it is not possible to evacuate safely, staff and any visiting adults must:
● Stay where they are safe.
● Keep the children calm and together.
● Wherever possible alert the manager of their location and the identity of the children and other adults.