I had been given the task to organize a fire evacuation drill specifically for only a certain area in a building.
As ridiculous as it may seem, there was a very good reason for doing this.
Firstly, this is a high technology manufacturing facility that manufactures products under extremely clean and dust-free conditions. With clean room facilities standard that goes down to class 10, it is very, very clean indeed. As such it is very important that dust do not enter into the clean room under manufacturing conditions. So in the past, all evacuation drills were done just before we had a planned plant shutdown for maintenance.
Secondly, during the past few years, whenever an evacuation drill was organized, the administration offices were usually closed, and all the workers will be making use of the opportunity to take their vacation. Practically nobody will be around. Even the production workers will be taking their vacation when they have stopped all their machines and handed over the plant for shutdown maintenance.
So when the office workers say that they do not know what to do in a fire situation, we can fully understand why. They had not been taking part in any fire evacuation drill before. It is not enough just to describe what will happen in an evacuation to them - somehow, we have to organize an actual evacuation drill for the office workers themselves. The challenge is to do it while the manufacturing production is still operating.
Any mistake that will cause people from the manufacturing clean rooms to evacuate will be disastrous to the company. The stakes are high.
The fire protection alarm system in our building is wired in such a way that any triggering of the alarm by activating a break glass, smoke detector, heat detector or sprinkler flow switch will eventually trigger the general alarm for the whole building if it is not acknowledged and reset back within 3 minutes. This is a safety feature to ensure that somebody actually goes and check the situation whenever there is an alarm.
In our fire evacuation plan, all the occupants had been trained to open the doors of the nearest exit point and escape from the building whenever it is confirmed that a real fire or emergency has occurred. This will ensure that nobody is left inside the building if there is a real emergency.
However, as far as our manufacturing clean room is concerned, this will be disastrous. All the products, rooms, machinery and clean room environment will be destroyed once the doors were opened to the atmosphere. It will take hours to recover back to the original condition. The losses will be enormous.
Although normal communications through supervisors and public address systems can be done, still there is too much at stake to take that risk.
That was our first option. Relying on human communications leaves too much on uncertainty. We have to make it completely idiot-proof. This option is not fool proof. Somebody might claim that they did not get the message.
Our second option was to re-program the fire alarm system to exclude all the areas in the clean rooms. This option was a bit tricky as there were some uncertainty as to how the alarm bells were wired up. We had to admit that although everything was drawn on paper on the as-built drawings, we were not 100% sure whether the re-programming will cover all the alarm bells inside the clean rooms or not. Moreover, there had been some renovation done on the existing building and nobody had taken the trouble to test the alarm bells then. So this option was also shelved.
Our third option was to re-wire the existing bells specifically only for the offices, so that we can trigger only the office areas. This seems a pretty good option, except that the preparation re-wiring work will have to be done at the installation itself. During the re-wiring period, the office itself would not be protected by the fire alarm system. In addition, the original wires would need to be disturbed and re-looped - something engineering people would not be keen to do - as it might give rise to other unexpected problems.
Our fourth option - to fabricate and install addition bells with triggering switches and fix them just beside the existing bells seemed to be the best option. By using additional bells, batteries, switches and getting them wired up at a portable stand in a workshop, they could be tested, carried along and put in place within a very short time. The best feature of this option is that the original fire alarm wiring need not be disturbed at all.
Choosing the fourth option, we fabricated three sets of alarm bell triggering units and placed them at the appropriate places at the offices. When the time for triggering the alarm bells came, an order was issued through the walkie-talkie and the bells were triggered by the technicians at those stations.
So, we managed to organize the fire evacuation drill for the offices only. Nobody evacuated from the manufacturing clean rooms because the bells were not sounded there. All the office workers had their evacuation drill and everything went on smoothly.
A potentially huge manufacturing loss was avoided by adopting a simple idea. A workable idea born out of necessity.
"For Busy People Luxury Furnishing Impress Customers"
Your Office Furnishing Represents Your Business! Beautiful Rugs Make Customers Responsive to Your Sales Pitch. Impress Your Customers and Become Successful!
Many years of working experience in Marine, Facilities, Construction has given the author material for writing e-books and articles related to engineering, and management. Subscribe to facworld ezine
More information at Marine Engineer and M & E Engineer
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
Do you consider your vision perfect? You may never have... Read More
There was a class of "challenged" children and many teachers... Read More
Imagination is the unreal, real state of mind, where all... Read More
It just might save your lifeThink of the many times... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
Some ideas occur in the office and others occur away... Read More
The constant search for Good Ideas has resulted in many... Read More
We read in the press about the "War on Drugs"... Read More
The thought that every great thing that has ever happened,... Read More
Coaching, training or learning about creativity and innovation involves mastery... Read More
Are you a right-brainer or a left-brainer?The greatest thinkers are... Read More
"Nothing is accidental ... use everything." -- Keith JohnstoneEven the... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
Do you hate to make small talk? If so, you... Read More
You've probably heard the phrase "repetition is the mother of... Read More
Who Should Read This Article?Anyone nursing a new (especially untested... Read More
Owning your power, your power to be real, to be... Read More
To creatively solve problems you need to get your mind... Read More
Since I derive most of my life lessons from reading... Read More
Here's a subject that we don't normally think of when... Read More
It's Friday night, you're sitting at a restaurant, and as... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
Whether you're an executive, manager, professional, or entrepreneur, you need... Read More
You've likely heard this before... "An ounce of prevention is... Read More
There were four of us at dinner. Three ordered "regular"... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
I lived for several years on the Japanese island of... Read More
Have you ever used your intuition to solve problems? Can... Read More
Great men and women succeed moment by moment, step by... Read More
I can't help it--I am a confirmed neuroscience geek.So I... Read More
Change, like almost every other life experience, is a learning... Read More
Have you ever gotten a really great idea ? one... Read More
People often think that there is a creative type. This... Read More
Ideas are everywhere. Some are small and seemingly insignificant. Others... Read More
There were four of us at dinner. Three ordered "regular"... Read More
What would you say to yourself if when faced with... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
Innovators are opportunity-oriented.What's the hidden opportunity in that problem? Where... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
It is that time of year again. Yuletide?Christmas in the... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
One definition of creativity states that creative people look at... Read More
Based on Proprietary Research"If you want to increase initiative and... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
You've heard of applied science, well how about applied Magick.... Read More
Most of us know we should take more risks. But... Read More
Yesterday, I went above and beyond the call of duty... Read More
A new idea is merely the combination of two or... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
There was a class of "challenged" children and many teachers... Read More
Throughout History we have imprisoned our brightest stars and thinkers.... Read More
Before I reveal it, shall we review some things that... Read More
"Nothing is accidental ... use everything." -- Keith JohnstoneEven the... Read More
Ever hear "You can't teach an old dog a new... Read More
Is it the dawning of the Age of Aquarius? For... Read More
"How'd they do that?" I asked myself time and time... Read More
At 28, Ellen MacArthur is a world record holder. In... Read More
Set Yourself Up For Success!... Read More
The most progressive Think Tanks, Brain Trusts, research facilities in... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
There are a number of amazing inventions that have been... Read More
Innovation |