BEDROCK Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 I was wondering round Crystal Peaks earlier and thought what if a fire drill went off effecting the entire mall. It would probably not be a bad thing as it is not a massive mall, unlike Meadowhall which is the size of Baghdad. I know in any small business or department store they are common place but what about major shopping malls. What if people are half naked in the clothing changing rooms, do they have to run out with boobs hanging out. Also, what if people who have tried on products end up doing a runner when outside at the meeting points. I would think there is nothing the stores or the malls could do in this situation, surely it's the risk of having a drill. I would love to be in Meadowhall trying a French Connection leather jacket on and being told to get out, excellent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dosxuk Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Virtually all places like that have multiple alarm systems with multiple stages, so a small fire in a single shop wouldn't cause the entire centre to be evacuated under emergency conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEDROCK Posted April 29, 2014 Author Share Posted April 29, 2014 Virtually all places like that have multiple alarm systems with multiple stages, so a small fire in a single shop wouldn't cause the entire centre to be evacuated under emergency conditions. What if it was a bomb scare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dosxuk Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 What if it was a bomb scare 1) The word "bomb" wouldn't be mentioned by anyone. 2) People would be asked to leave immediately, but not forced to run out while screaming and half naked. By far the biggest danger in an evacuation scenario is panic from the people leaving, which only snowballs if they then think there's something preventing them from leaving - like everybody trying to get through a doorway at once. That ends up with people dead, even when there is no actual danger. Take it you've never been evacuated from anywhere Bedrock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 When I used to work at Meadowhall, we did fire drills during opening hours, this included evacuating all the shops, the Oasis and the cinema. There are hundreds of staff in Meadowhall (shop staff and the centre's own customer service, security and cleaning team) and everyone has a part to play. I am not sure what the stats are now but we used to be able to get everyone out within 4 minutes of the alarm sounding. As dosxuk says, it's all very calm, announcements are made asking customers to leave the centre via their nearest fire exit, staff will man the fire exits to help customers out and other staff will check areas such as toilets to ensure nobody is still there. Yet more staff will block the car park exits to stop people leaving en-mass and blocking up the roads (which may be needed by the emergency services). Is this a good point to mention the 10,000 body bags stored at Meadowhall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikes10 Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Fire drills and evacuation drills have several objectives: Ensure a building is evacuated quickly ensure audible and visual alarms are working correctly ensure emergency lighting is functioning correctly Ensure staff are familiar with the evacuation procedure and if necessary assist with the evacuation. Determine faults within the current system and modify accordingly. The only way to find out if an evacuation procedure is effective is to test it. However the recent South Korean ferry tragedy clearly demonstrates what can happen if nobody understands what you are supposed to do in an emergency. So Bedders if you are in a building or on ship and members of staff or crew are running in circles shouting "We are all going to die", well you have bit of a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEDROCK Posted April 29, 2014 Author Share Posted April 29, 2014 Fire drills and evacuation drills have several objectives: Ensure a building is evacuated quickly ensure audible and visual alarms are working correctly ensure emergency lighting is functioning correctly Ensure staff are familiar with the evacuation procedure and if necessary assist with the evacuation. Determine faults within the current system and modify accordingly. The only way to find out if an evacuation procedure is effective is to test it. However the recent South Korean ferry tragedy clearly demonstrates what can happen if nobody understands what you are supposed to do in an emergency. So Bedders if you are in a building or on ship and members of staff or crew are running in circles shouting "We are all going to die", well you have bit of a problem. If Korean battle ships are present I will jump in the sea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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