Development Cluster Coordinated Fire Drills

As part of a joint highway collaboration between Transport for London and the London Borough of Southwark, they have been working closely with constructors at a development cluster by the Tate Gallery. This has involved setting up the Southbank working group with Mace, Sir Robert McAlpine, Sons & Co & StructureTone to discuss programmes, working methodologies, HGV management and mitigating community impacts.

During a working group meeting, it came to their attention that all sites had the same fire drill muster point. As some of the sites have up to 500 workers it was important to avoid any clashes especially where there is limited space and coronavirus social distancing guidelines to adhere to. A meeting took place to discuss the best approach which also involved liaison with Met Police.

All constructors agreed on a coordinated method and signed a Memorandum of Understanding that included:

• Sharing details of the person responsible for arranging the fire drills for each site e.g. name, email and contact number.
• To plan drills in advance via a coordinated approach involving all appointed persons.
• On the day of a drill adjacent site staff not undertaking a drill are to be instructed to keep footways clear and allow safe passage to the muster point.
• At the muster point, staff are to maintain their work bubbles and not to mix with adjacent bubbles
• Staff are instructed to maintain sufficient space for members of the public to safely pass the muster point
• All drills are to be marshalled and monitored to ensure a regimented approach is maintained at all times