Do you know what to do?
Do you know what to do?
Selina Rapulane
The Science Park’s Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) department conducted an evacuation fire drill on 13 November 2018.
It was organised by safety officer Mr Rammese Tshabalala who said: “The reason why we had a fire drill today is because we want to get the staff ready for real life emergencies. This is part of our emergency preparedness; so that the staff knows what to do in the interest of their health and safety.”
A fire drill is a practised evacuation designed to familiarise people with an existing emergency plan and is a very important exercise as it reduces panic in a real-life emergency situation because people know what to do and how to exit a building calmly and safely.
The alarm went off at ten in the morning and all the employees were expected to promptly make their way to the designated assembly points for a roll call. At the assembly points, Ms Mapule Mashitisho: Safety Manager thanked everyone for cooperating and mentioned that she is happy that the staff took it seriously and responded quickly to the drill.
The evacuation drill was made possible with the assistance of paramedics from the Vanderbijlpark VUT Campus, the fire team from Protection Services and the Health and Safety Department as well as eight third-level VUT Safety Management students.