Fire/Emergency Evacuation Procedure for Academic Buildings Regulation

Purpose:

This regulation establishes the procedure for the evacuation of all academic buildings at Winona State University (WSU) in the event of a fire alarm or other designated emergency as well as to establish the responsibility for evacuation of buildings and alerting the fire department and/or other appropriate emergency agencies.

Note: This legacy regulation is currently being considered for updating to a formal Policy and Procedure set:

• WSU 2-15 Fire/Emergency Evacuation of Academic Buildings Policy (Draft)
• WSU 2-15A Fire/Emergency Evacuation of Academic Buildings Procedure (Draft)

Regulation:

A. Procedure

All Winona State University (WSU) personnel will be responsible for knowing appropriate emergency information for their work areas and/or classrooms. Emergency information includes, but is not limited to, emergency plans, evacuation exits, alternate exits, etc.

Emergency floor plans are posted in all areas for reference. Also, periodic training sessions will be conducted on appropriate safety/evacuation topics.

The first person to become aware of a fire or emergency will sound an alarm and notify the appropriate emergency agency by dialing the universal emergency number 9-911 (from any campus telephone). At the sounding of the (fire) alarm, all building occupants will evacuate the building immediately. All occupants will evacuate through the nearest exterior door; no building elevators will be used. After evacuation, building entrances and walkways should not be blocked.

Upon the arrival of the fire department or other emergency agency, the caller will advise as to the location of the emergency, as specifically as possible. All available supervisors will report individuals or groups that are not evacuated from the building to the fire department or emergency agency. Building occupants will only return to the building when the fire department or emergency agency gives approval for return.

In order to test the effectiveness of building evacuation plans, this evacuation procedure and alarms, each academic building will have a periodic (fire) alarm drill. All building occupants will participate.

B. Procedure for Evacuation of Persons with Disabilities

All WSU personnel with disabilities will be responsible for knowing appropriate emergency information for their work areas (as stated above).

Each department or supervisory area, employing a person with a disability, will work with the campus Safety Officer to develop an evacuation plan (including an alternate plan), specific to the needs and requirements of the employee. This may include training of co-workers to assist with the evacuation of the employee, and participation of the employee and those coworkers in evacuation drills.

Because of the difficulty in identifying and locating all students with disabilities, it will be the responsibility of those students to identify themselves and plan, where necessary, proper evacuation methods. To assist these students, informational training sessions, covering evacuation methods, will also be held periodically for faculty and staff.

History:

Dates of Revisions: 8/18/88, 8/13/07

Adoption date: 01/03/1981
Implementation date: 08/13/2007