Covid-19 Questions Answered
In response to the ever evolving COVID-19 situation, our office has been receiving questions about Emergency Management during the pandemic and times of compulsory social distancing. Here’s our answers to the common questions we are receiving thus far:
Q: Our building is pretty empty at the moment with people working from home. Does Warden Training need to proceed during COVID-19?
A: QFES have advised that training sessions and compliance with the Building Fire Safety Regulation are still mandatory and arguably more important than ever, as an increasing number of people go on sick leave/work from home and we are left with skeleton staff in buildings. This invariably upsets our Warden ratios and it is critical to ensure we have an adequate number of trained wardens amongst skeleton staff to ensure we can carry out a successful evacuation in the event of an emergency.
BFSA are offering the following training options at no additional cost to you:
- We will develop, administer, host and assess a site specific online training session for your site (in lieu of face to face training);
- Run a Video Conference at your scheduled training time with “presentation share” so that participants can view the presentation slides and hear the presenter, from the safety of a computer or mobile device.
Q: Do we still need to run an Evacuation Exercise?
A: QFES have advised that they do not have the jurisdiction to alter a current legal requirement, however they will “consider mitigating circumstances when assessing building fire safety compliance matters and a pragmatic approach will be taken in relation to enforcement action where external factors significantly impact on regulatory compliance”. They are encouraging all buildings that have Evacuation Exercises due during this period to consider alternatives that maintain the social distancing requirements. This could include an online simulation, desktop exercise or physical Warden walk-through maintaining careful social distancing. We aim to postpone your full-scale planned exercise if it falls within this period of mandatory social distancing, and only revisit this style of exercise as soon as lawful and practicable.
Q: What about my Assembly Area in the event of a genuine evacuation. Could I be breaching social distancing requirements?
A: The answer to this question is still largely unknown, as to whether occupants at an Assembly Area would constitute an essential, or non-essential gathering. Our advice is that despite the definitions presented by the Federal Government it is important to balance practical compliance with the Health and Safety of your occupants. Medical advice suggests that the virus is at risk of being transmitted when people are in close contact with each other, and we hold concerns that fire stair occupation and assembly area congregation could increase the risks of transmission, which would then potentially have impacts on all tenants within your building. We believe that any steps we can take to assist in reducing the spread of COVID-19 will assist in bringing the pandemic to a more expeditious resolution.
As such we are recommending that you implement an alternate evacuation plan for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, that would encourage an evacuate to disperse methodology amongst other controls, to ensure we keep your people safe.
Please contact us if you would like us to assist with this level of planning for your building and we can start putting steps in place for you.
As always, we are here to assist you in navigating these uncertain times. Please don’t hesitate to call or email for advice at any time if we can be of assistance.
