Thank you to all Connaught Hall residents for a very good fire drill yesterday. It was an orderly evacuation, in good time, and we didn't find any covered smoke detectors.
It's the first time in many years that I haven't had to conduct a string of disciplinary hearings after the fire drill because of covered smoke detectors, so I'm really happy with the drill yesterday!
Showing posts with label fire safety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fire safety. Show all posts
Thursday, 13 October 2016
Saturday, 7 June 2014
FIRE ALARM
The fire alarm has sounded several times today. I want to ensure that no one is confused about it.
IF THE FIRE ALARM EVER SOUNDS FOR MORE THAN FIVE SECONDS, YOU MUST EVACUATE THE BUILDING.
That's the most important message to remember. If you're still interested in what's been happening, read on...
Following the fire on Tuesday night, we had reports that some people's sounders didn't go off, so they slept through the whole thing.
So THIS AFTERNOON, between 11:45 and 12:00, we tested the sounders in those rooms and a random selection of other rooms. In fact, we only found one sounder that wasn't quite right and that is being repaired very urgently. We sent an email to everyone yesterday warning you that we would be testing the alarm for that fifteen-minute period.
We are going to conduct another test of all sounders in the building in the summer, but to do that we shall have to ring the alarm for about half an hour continuously, so that will be after you have all left.
TONIGHT at around 22:30, burnt food set off the smoke detector in the fourth-floor pantry. The Duty Senior Member saw there was no fire and no hazard, so the alarm was silenced. Our guidelines are that we will silence the alarm only if it sounds for less than five seconds; if it's been sounding for more than five seconds, even if there isn't a fire, we will conduct a full evacuation. Unfortunately, on this occasion, there was so much smoke that the alarm kept being re-triggered, so you might have heard brief bursts from the alarm about five times. That's very unusual.
We are not planning any more tests or practices. So from now on, if you hear the fire alarm ringing for more than five seconds, please do leave the building by the shortest route.
Wednesday, 4 June 2014
Did you not hear the fire alarm?
We are hearing reports that some people failed to evacuate the building last night. One or two people think they did not hear the fire alarm sounding.
The alarm sounded for 13 minutes at 02:00, and everyone who did evacuate was out in less than 10 minutes, which is satisfactory for a night-time alarm when most people would be sleeping.
No one reported their fire alarm sounder not working on Saturday, when we held a fire practice.
If you did not wake up last night when the fire alarm sounded (so presumably only found out about the evacuation this morning), it is imperative that you contact us immediately at info.connaught@london.ac.uk to tell us that you did not hear the alarm.
We will need to check the sounder in your room to ensure that you and future occupants of that room do hear the evacuation signal to allow them to leave the Hall safely and in a timely manner in the event of an emergency.
At Connaught Hall, we always tell you in advance if we plan to hold a fire practice. That way, if you hear the alarm and we have not given prior warning, you can be reasonably certain that there is a genuine emergency and you must get out. Pre-warning about fire practices also means you can look for the shortest escape rout even before the drill so you get used to leaving the building by the safest route, rather than always going through the front door.
During planned fire drills, we check every room to make sure you have left. But in a real emergency, we do not check any rooms. We might only have two members of staff in the building at night (as a guaranteed minimum), and they have other responsibilities during an evacuation. It would not be safe for me to ask our staff to knock on every door trying to ensure that everyone has evacuated.
Your personal safety is your personal responsibility. Please always evacuate when you hear the fire alarm sound for more than 5 seconds.
The alarm sounded for 13 minutes at 02:00, and everyone who did evacuate was out in less than 10 minutes, which is satisfactory for a night-time alarm when most people would be sleeping.
No one reported their fire alarm sounder not working on Saturday, when we held a fire practice.
If you did not wake up last night when the fire alarm sounded (so presumably only found out about the evacuation this morning), it is imperative that you contact us immediately at info.connaught@london.ac.uk to tell us that you did not hear the alarm.
We will need to check the sounder in your room to ensure that you and future occupants of that room do hear the evacuation signal to allow them to leave the Hall safely and in a timely manner in the event of an emergency.
At Connaught Hall, we always tell you in advance if we plan to hold a fire practice. That way, if you hear the alarm and we have not given prior warning, you can be reasonably certain that there is a genuine emergency and you must get out. Pre-warning about fire practices also means you can look for the shortest escape rout even before the drill so you get used to leaving the building by the safest route, rather than always going through the front door.
During planned fire drills, we check every room to make sure you have left. But in a real emergency, we do not check any rooms. We might only have two members of staff in the building at night (as a guaranteed minimum), and they have other responsibilities during an evacuation. It would not be safe for me to ask our staff to knock on every door trying to ensure that everyone has evacuated.
Your personal safety is your personal responsibility. Please always evacuate when you hear the fire alarm sound for more than 5 seconds.
Fire 4th June 2014
Those of us who were in the Hall at 2 o'clock this morning were awoken by the fire alarm.
(If you were in but did not evacuate / did not hear the alarm, please see this post as well: http://connaughthall.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/did-you-not-hear-fire-alarm.html).
There was a real fire inside the third-floor ladies' bathroom. The fire brigade attended and made the area safe within about an hour and a quarter, so that by 3:30 everyone was allowed back into their rooms. We did have some rooms available to move residents into if their own rooms (on the third and fourth floors) were too smoky to spend the night in.
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The evacuation at 2 am was calm and efficient. Everyone was very patient, waiting until the fire brigade allowed us back inside. I want to thank everyone who was here - staff but even more so, residents - for the way you conducted yourselves during the emergency.
I can confirm that nobody was injured last night.
There is significant damage to the affected bathroom, which will require a complete refurbishment. The electrics were also damaged but we were fortunately able to isolate the bathroom circuit without losing power to anybody's bedrooms.
Now we need to work out exactly what happened. The fire brigade believe there are suspicious circumstances around how the fire started - that this was either a deliberately started fire, or at the very least, that someone was doing something they shouldn't have been doing in the bathroom that could have led to an accidental fire.
If you know anything about how the fire started last night, please come and talk to me in confidence. If you think you might have done something that could have accidentally caused this fire, please come and speak with me urgently, before this becomes a full criminal (police) and internal (disciplinary) investigation.
I will be in my office on the ground floor today (Wednesday):
Or feedback to a senior member if you don't feel you can approach me directly.
We do already have a number of leads to follow-up, and we are being assisted by the Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade Fire Investigation Unit. So any more detail to flesh out those little bones of information will be welcomed, even if you are unsure whether or not what you saw or heard was significant.
(If you were in but did not evacuate / did not hear the alarm, please see this post as well: http://connaughthall.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/did-you-not-hear-fire-alarm.html).
There was a real fire inside the third-floor ladies' bathroom. The fire brigade attended and made the area safe within about an hour and a quarter, so that by 3:30 everyone was allowed back into their rooms. We did have some rooms available to move residents into if their own rooms (on the third and fourth floors) were too smoky to spend the night in.
The evacuation at 2 am was calm and efficient. Everyone was very patient, waiting until the fire brigade allowed us back inside. I want to thank everyone who was here - staff but even more so, residents - for the way you conducted yourselves during the emergency.
I can confirm that nobody was injured last night.
There is significant damage to the affected bathroom, which will require a complete refurbishment. The electrics were also damaged but we were fortunately able to isolate the bathroom circuit without losing power to anybody's bedrooms.
Now we need to work out exactly what happened. The fire brigade believe there are suspicious circumstances around how the fire started - that this was either a deliberately started fire, or at the very least, that someone was doing something they shouldn't have been doing in the bathroom that could have led to an accidental fire.
If you know anything about how the fire started last night, please come and talk to me in confidence. If you think you might have done something that could have accidentally caused this fire, please come and speak with me urgently, before this becomes a full criminal (police) and internal (disciplinary) investigation.
I will be in my office on the ground floor today (Wednesday):
- 3:00 to 3:30 pm
- 7:30 to 8:00 pm
Or feedback to a senior member if you don't feel you can approach me directly.
We do already have a number of leads to follow-up, and we are being assisted by the Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade Fire Investigation Unit. So any more detail to flesh out those little bones of information will be welcomed, even if you are unsure whether or not what you saw or heard was significant.
I also will take this opportunity to remind everyone of the correct action to take if you suspect there is a fire. At least four people were talking about a lot of smoke coming from the bathroom before a senior member went to investigate and set off the alarm.
If ever you suspect there is a fire in Hall, please break the glass on a red fire alarm point to start the evacuation. Every minute that a fire continues to burn without us getting people out of the building places people in greater danger from smoke and fire.
Friday, 30 May 2014
Fire practice Saturday 31 May
Weather permitting, a fire evacuation practice will be
held at Connaught Hall on Saturday afternoon (31st May).
When you hear the
fire alarm:
- Evacuate the building immediately.
- Close all doors and windows behind you.
- Leave by the
shortest route
(follow the green exit signs to find your nearest fire escape). - Do not use the lift.
- Assemble on the pavement outside Passfield Hall on Endsleigh Place.
Remember it is
possible that there may be a real fire alarm on the day, so for your own safety
never ignore the alarm because you assume it is a drill.
It is a condition of your Licence Agreement that you participate in all fire practices.
Saturday, 5 October 2013
Fire drill report 04/10/2013
Thank you, everyone, for a smooth fire drill yesterday evening. About 150 people evacuated in under 6 minutes (all but two of those in under 5 minutes), which is a good time and certainly means we don't have to run another drill this term. Everyone's alarm and all the fire exits worked normally.
There were just two areas where we could do better:
1. Use alternative stairs & exits
Please remember to use the staircases at either end of your corridor as well as the main staircase in the middle. In middle-of-the-night evacuations, when everyone is sleepy in their pyjamas, the middle staircase can get congested and have people backed up like a snake all the way up to the second floor. That won't happen if you use the alternative exits.
For example, if you live in rooms x01 - x06 or x42 - x48 (or thereabouts - it's slightly different between floors), use the north staircase all the way down to the basement, then use the fire exit out to below street level and up the steps to the street.
Or if you live in rooms x23 - x35, use the south staircase and exit at street level through the side door.
2. Cross the road for the assembly point
The evacuation assembly point is on the pavement outside Passfield Hall, which means crossing that small road to get off the block that Connaught is on. This is based on advice from the police and fire brigade about the risk of flying glass from broken windows, and explosion risk. We have had at least 5 bomb threats that I can remember in the last 16 years. There were never any bombs, thankfully, but we have to make our evacuation plan suitable to keep you all safe from explosions as well as fire and smoke. So do remember to cross the road and stand outside Passfield Hall.
There will be another drill in the spring / early summer, in order for us to meet the requirement that we have two per year. But as you've seen, we warn you in advance if there is going to be a drill; so if you hear the fire alarm again, you know for sure that it's not a drill (except if it rings for less than 10 seconds at 1pm on a Wednesday, when we test the system).
Thank you again for helping us with yesterday's drill.
There were just two areas where we could do better:
1. Use alternative stairs & exits
Please remember to use the staircases at either end of your corridor as well as the main staircase in the middle. In middle-of-the-night evacuations, when everyone is sleepy in their pyjamas, the middle staircase can get congested and have people backed up like a snake all the way up to the second floor. That won't happen if you use the alternative exits.
For example, if you live in rooms x01 - x06 or x42 - x48 (or thereabouts - it's slightly different between floors), use the north staircase all the way down to the basement, then use the fire exit out to below street level and up the steps to the street.
Or if you live in rooms x23 - x35, use the south staircase and exit at street level through the side door.
2. Cross the road for the assembly point
The evacuation assembly point is on the pavement outside Passfield Hall, which means crossing that small road to get off the block that Connaught is on. This is based on advice from the police and fire brigade about the risk of flying glass from broken windows, and explosion risk. We have had at least 5 bomb threats that I can remember in the last 16 years. There were never any bombs, thankfully, but we have to make our evacuation plan suitable to keep you all safe from explosions as well as fire and smoke. So do remember to cross the road and stand outside Passfield Hall.
There will be another drill in the spring / early summer, in order for us to meet the requirement that we have two per year. But as you've seen, we warn you in advance if there is going to be a drill; so if you hear the fire alarm again, you know for sure that it's not a drill (except if it rings for less than 10 seconds at 1pm on a Wednesday, when we test the system).
Thank you again for helping us with yesterday's drill.
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Fire Practice: MONDAY 19 NOVEMBER
Weather permitting, a fire drill will be held on Monday evening (19th November).
When you hear the fire alarm:
Evacuate the building immediately.
Close all doors and windows behind you.
Leave by the shortest route.
Do not use the lift.
Assemble on the pavement outside Passfield Hall on Endsleigh Place.
Follow the green exit signs to find your nearest escape route. Hall staff will help you.
Remember it is possible that there may be a real fire alarm on the day, so for your own safety never ignore the alarm because you assume it is a drill.
If the total evacuation time is too long, more fire drills will be held over the next few weeks – so don’t let everyone else down!
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Please do not cover smoke detectors
It is the first week of the University term and I have already received a report from the Hall Management team that the smoke detector was found covered in a resident's room.
I would normally mention this particular issue in my welcome speech next Monday, to emphasise how important it is, and how seriously we deal with allegations of interfering with fire safety equipment. Given this very early incident, however, I should like to make sure that everyone is aware of the following as of today.
Any interference with fire safety equipment in Connaught Hall - including covering smoke detectors - is in contravention of:
- University of London Intercollegiate Halls of Residence Licence Agreement 2012-12 - paragraph 9.11
- Connaught Hall Supplementary Regulations 2012-13 - paragraph 5.2
- Connaught Hall Residents’ Handbook v4.0.4 - paragraphs 9.3.5 & 15.5.3; and
- The Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974
The Residents’ Handbook states:
Tampering with fire safety equipment (including covering smoke detectors) is illegal in the United Kingdom and a very serious disciplinary offence within the University of London. This is clearly set out in the Licence Agreement and the Supplementary Regulations.
Anyone who deliberately causes a false alarm, irresponsibly discharges fire extinguishers, covers smoke detectors, interferes with fire exit signs, or who tampers with fire safety equipment in any way whatsoever, will be dealt with under the student disciplinary procedure and can expect to be removed from Hall without delay. The matter will also be referred to their college.
We have one small fire at Connaught Hall almost every year, and a more damaging fire occurs about every eight-to-ten years. By delaying the detection of a fire and activation of the evacuation signal, covering smoke detectors jeopardises the lives of everyone in the Hall: fire and the smoke it produces can kill very quickly. Our strict rules about this are grounded in genuine concern for everyone's safety and wellbeing.
Please do not cover your smoke detector, nor interfere in any other way with the Hall's fire safety precautions.
No further warnings will be issued on this matter.
Monday, 27 February 2012
Please do not cover smoke detectors
Since we came back to Hall for this second term, I have dealt with three cases of residents covering the smoke detector in their room.
The Connaught Hall Supplementary Regulations state:
Your Licence Agreement requires that you observe all fire safety rules… In particular, we consider:
(a) the covering of smoke detectors to conceal smoking or cooking,
(b) tampering with fire extinguishers, and
(c) deliberate false activation of the fire alarm
to be serious disciplinary offences which in some cases may lead to immediate expulsion from the Hall.
Interfering with our fire safety precautions puts everyone in the Hall at risk. As I said in my welcome speech in October, we have a real fire at Connaught Hall almost every year; two in the last ten years have been serious. It is only because we take your safety so seriously that no one has been hurt in these incidents.
The minimum penalty for covering a smoke detector is a final written warning. The maximum
penalty is immediate expulsion plus a fine of £250. Everyone has now been warned about the seriousness with which I view interference with fire safety equipment.
No further warnings will be issued: from 1 March 2012, anyone found to have covered a smoke detector will be required to leave the Hall within 48 hours.
The Connaught Hall Supplementary Regulations state:
Your Licence Agreement requires that you observe all fire safety rules… In particular, we consider:
(a) the covering of smoke detectors to conceal smoking or cooking,
(b) tampering with fire extinguishers, and
(c) deliberate false activation of the fire alarm
to be serious disciplinary offences which in some cases may lead to immediate expulsion from the Hall.
Interfering with our fire safety precautions puts everyone in the Hall at risk. As I said in my welcome speech in October, we have a real fire at Connaught Hall almost every year; two in the last ten years have been serious. It is only because we take your safety so seriously that no one has been hurt in these incidents.
The minimum penalty for covering a smoke detector is a final written warning. The maximum
penalty is immediate expulsion plus a fine of £250. Everyone has now been warned about the seriousness with which I view interference with fire safety equipment.
No further warnings will be issued: from 1 March 2012, anyone found to have covered a smoke detector will be required to leave the Hall within 48 hours.
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Weekend round-up
1. Televisions / common rooms / sofas
The TV in the Bamforth Room has good reception of BBC ONE via the FreeSat receiver. Put the TV on AV input 2 and use the EPG on the FreeSat box to find one of the BBC ONE channels with a good picture.
The TV in the Bell Room has good reception of ITV1 through the terrestrial aerial. Select P3.
I have asked for a TV engineer to be called out to get all channels working on both TVs again.
During this term the Hall will buy some new sofas for reception and the sofas currently in reception will be moved to the common rooms. We also have some more comfortable chairs coming this week for the Bell Room.
2. Drinking water
The water fountains were removed from reception and the dining hall on Friday. I have asked the kitchen to put out jugs of water at meal times, and will find out about replacing the water fountains this week.
3. The garden / smoking / drinking alcohol
Please remember that smoking is only allowed in the designated smoking area, not in the rest of the garden. Smoking too close to the building or under the shelter outside the bar causes smoke to go into rooms facing the garden, which isn't very nice for non-smokers!
The Supplementary Regulations also say that only alcohol bought from the Hall bar may be consumed in the garden and Bell Room from 19.00 to 23.00. This is a licensing issue; breaking this rule could lead to the licence being revoked for our bar.
4. Newspapers
Traditionally, the Club subscribes to a number of daily newspapers which are placed the reception lobby for residents to read. At present, the Club has insufficient cash funds available to pay these subscriptions for September and early October.
Newspapers will be re-started when the Club receives this term's instalment of £10/resident/term subscriptions from the Bursar's Office.
5. Fire drill
There will be a fire drill on Monday evening.
When you hear the fire alarm:
The TV in the Bamforth Room has good reception of BBC ONE via the FreeSat receiver. Put the TV on AV input 2 and use the EPG on the FreeSat box to find one of the BBC ONE channels with a good picture.
The TV in the Bell Room has good reception of ITV1 through the terrestrial aerial. Select P3.
I have asked for a TV engineer to be called out to get all channels working on both TVs again.
During this term the Hall will buy some new sofas for reception and the sofas currently in reception will be moved to the common rooms. We also have some more comfortable chairs coming this week for the Bell Room.
2. Drinking water
The water fountains were removed from reception and the dining hall on Friday. I have asked the kitchen to put out jugs of water at meal times, and will find out about replacing the water fountains this week.
3. The garden / smoking / drinking alcohol
Please remember that smoking is only allowed in the designated smoking area, not in the rest of the garden. Smoking too close to the building or under the shelter outside the bar causes smoke to go into rooms facing the garden, which isn't very nice for non-smokers!
The Supplementary Regulations also say that only alcohol bought from the Hall bar may be consumed in the garden and Bell Room from 19.00 to 23.00. This is a licensing issue; breaking this rule could lead to the licence being revoked for our bar.
4. Newspapers
Traditionally, the Club subscribes to a number of daily newspapers which are placed the reception lobby for residents to read. At present, the Club has insufficient cash funds available to pay these subscriptions for September and early October.
Newspapers will be re-started when the Club receives this term's instalment of £10/resident/term subscriptions from the Bursar's Office.
5. Fire drill
There will be a fire drill on Monday evening.
When you hear the fire alarm:
- Evacuate the building immediately.
- Close all doors and windows behind you.
- Leave by the shortest route.
- Do not use the lift.
- Assemble on the pavement opposite the Hall.
Follow the green exit signs to find your nearest escape route (not necessarily via the main stairs/reception). Hall staff will help you.
Remember it is possible that there may be a real fire alarm on the day, so for your own safety never ignore the alarm because you assume it is a drill.
It is a condition of residence that you participate in fire drills. If the total evacuation time is too long, more drills will be held over the next few weeks – so don’t let everyone else down!
Please contact me or the Bursar’s Office if you may need assistance to evacuate the building.
6. Events next week
Tue 04/10 - Welcome buffet 6-7pm in the dining hall
Wed 05/10 - Floor party for fourth floor, hosted by John
Thu 06/10 - Floor party for third floor, hosted by Alyson
Fri 07/10 - Floor party for first floor, hosted by Zack
Sat 08/10 - Welcome party 8pm-2am in the bar
Sun 09/10 - Postgraduate reception (second floor), hosted by Tom
Mon 10/10 - Floor party for ground & lower-ground floors and second-floor undergraduates, hosted by Ilk
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Fire
A fire on the roof of the dining hall yesterday evening, related to the ongoing building work to the roof, damaged the servery area of the dining hall. Consequently, our dining hall will be closed until the beginning of next week when the damge can be repaired. Meanwhile, Connaught Hall residents may take meals at International Hall - but you you must remember to take your Hall ID card with you.
Thank you all for conducting an orderly evacuation yesterday.
Thank you all for conducting an orderly evacuation yesterday.
Friday, 5 March 2010
Residents' Survey - emergencies & fire safety
Responses to Residents' Survey 4: emergencies & fire safety
Continuing my series of blog posts to repond to residents' comments in the February 2010 intercollegiate halls residents' survey. A summary of responses to the multiple choice questions on the survey can be seen here: Residents' Survey results. And you can filter this blog so just the survey-related posts show by clicking on "survey" in the list of labels on the right hand side.
I'm sure this is the case for quite a few residents. We do ask you in your welcome pack to ensure you identify at least one alternative escape route in case the main exit route is ever blocked or unavailable for some reason. Just follow the green "running man" signs to any of the other 8 exits that can take you to a place of safety.
We do have to have one planned fire drill each term, although we can dispense with this if there is an evacuation in that term due to a real or false alarm. Some false alarms are unavoidable in a building with so many inhabitants but we actually have fewer false alarms than most halls of residence.
We have banned most of the items that tend to cause false alarms (and real fires) such as toasters, cooking equipment, candles, incense, etc.; and preventing fire alarms is one reason why we don't have more than a microwave in the pantry on each floor.
Anyone who accidentally causes a false alarm has to attend an interview with me and anyone who is caught deliberately causing a false alarm would normally be required to leave - so we do already take what steps we can to reduce the number of false alarms. If you have any suggestions for how we could reduce these even further, please get in touch.
Yes, call reception on extension 8200 and they will put in contact with the Bursar's Office during the working day or with the Duty Senior Member at night and at the weekend.
Headcounts don't really help since we have no way of knowing which residents are in the Hall at the time the alarm sounds; and it isn't safe for staff to check every room since this takes at least 15 minutes. The fire alarm is very loud (or at least it should be); so I would advise asking maintenance to check your sounder if it doesn't wake you up, to make sure it is working OK. If you are worried that you still would not be woken up by the fire alarm, contact me and I will arrange for a member of staff to always check your room when there is a full evacuation. I will make sure this advice is included in next year's Residents' Handbook.
Continuing my series of blog posts to repond to residents' comments in the February 2010 intercollegiate halls residents' survey. A summary of responses to the multiple choice questions on the survey can be seen here: Residents' Survey results. And you can filter this blog so just the survey-related posts show by clicking on "survey" in the list of labels on the right hand side.
I only know the main entrance to escape from in a fire.
I'm sure this is the case for quite a few residents. We do ask you in your welcome pack to ensure you identify at least one alternative escape route in case the main exit route is ever blocked or unavailable for some reason. Just follow the green "running man" signs to any of the other 8 exits that can take you to a place of safety.
Too many false fire alarms!
With the number of false alarms we get, I certainly know more than one escape route. Oh yes, and my readiness to respond to fire alarm was tested and proven even at 3am in the morning (including braving the cold on the streets). All is good.
I'd propose rather less than more health and safety. I reckon it's regulations that we need a fire drill every term.
We do have to have one planned fire drill each term, although we can dispense with this if there is an evacuation in that term due to a real or false alarm. Some false alarms are unavoidable in a building with so many inhabitants but we actually have fewer false alarms than most halls of residence.
We have banned most of the items that tend to cause false alarms (and real fires) such as toasters, cooking equipment, candles, incense, etc.; and preventing fire alarms is one reason why we don't have more than a microwave in the pantry on each floor.
Anyone who accidentally causes a false alarm has to attend an interview with me and anyone who is caught deliberately causing a false alarm would normally be required to leave - so we do already take what steps we can to reduce the number of false alarms. If you have any suggestions for how we could reduce these even further, please get in touch.
Just call reception in emergency? Not really sure
Yes, call reception on extension 8200 and they will put in contact with the Bursar's Office during the working day or with the Duty Senior Member at night and at the weekend.
I actually slept through the last fire alarm (the one which was activated by someone in hall) and only found out that it had taken place when I woke up in the morning and talked to my friends. I hope there is a proper procedure for doing a headcount in case of a real emergency so that heavy sleepers like me will be looked out for too.
Headcounts don't really help since we have no way of knowing which residents are in the Hall at the time the alarm sounds; and it isn't safe for staff to check every room since this takes at least 15 minutes. The fire alarm is very loud (or at least it should be); so I would advise asking maintenance to check your sounder if it doesn't wake you up, to make sure it is working OK. If you are worried that you still would not be woken up by the fire alarm, contact me and I will arrange for a member of staff to always check your room when there is a full evacuation. I will make sure this advice is included in next year's Residents' Handbook.
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Fire alarm & evacuation 09/02/10
The evacuation in the early hours of Tuesday morning was caused by someone activating the "break glass" call point outside the common room on the third floor.
I need to be sure this will not happen again. Evacuating in the middle of the night is obviously a huge inconvenience to the entire Hall community; but frequent false alarms can also engender a "boy who cried wolf" mentality, making this a serious safety issue.
Ideally, I want the person responsible to contact me and tell me what happened; we should be able to come to an arrangement.
It is in everyone's interests that we find out what happened as quickly as possible. If you know something about what happened contact me in confidence with any information.
I need to be sure this will not happen again. Evacuating in the middle of the night is obviously a huge inconvenience to the entire Hall community; but frequent false alarms can also engender a "boy who cried wolf" mentality, making this a serious safety issue.
Ideally, I want the person responsible to contact me and tell me what happened; we should be able to come to an arrangement.
It is in everyone's interests that we find out what happened as quickly as possible. If you know something about what happened contact me in confidence with any information.
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Facilities Committee
Applications are invited for eight student representatives on the Hall Facilities Committee.
As a student representative, you will meet with Hall staff and members of the elected Residents’ Club Committee to help make decisions about:
There are four meetings a year, each lasting around one hour – so it’s not a huge commitment, and it’s a good point to add to your CV!
If you want to join, send a note of your name, room number & email address to facilities.committee@connaught-hall.org.uk no later than 6pm on 26 November.
If more than eight residents apply, members will be chosen randomly from the applications received. The first meeting will be in early December.
As a student representative, you will meet with Hall staff and members of the elected Residents’ Club Committee to help make decisions about:
- fire safety
- housekeeping
- first aid
- security
- catering
- smoking policy
- maintenance
- health promotion
- reception services
- recycling & re-use
There are four meetings a year, each lasting around one hour – so it’s not a huge commitment, and it’s a good point to add to your CV!
If you want to join, send a note of your name, room number & email address to facilities.committee@connaught-hall.org.uk no later than 6pm on 26 November.
If more than eight residents apply, members will be chosen randomly from the applications received. The first meeting will be in early December.
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