There was a false fire alarm in the basement carpark of a block of units where I live. So, it was decided that a fire safety talk was to be attended by the residents. This we dutifully did. To say that I was appalled by this fire safety talk, is an understatement. This was apart from the fact that the microphone system didn’t work despite several people milling about the system for a few minutes trying to assess why it wouldn’t. I have been here for nearly 13 months, and this system has always been problematic, sometimes working, sometimes not, while at other times, it works but with an intermittent roar of what sounds like static.
The ‘fire safety’ talk was therefore only audible to a proportion of the crowd, because the person who delivered it seemed incapable of raising her voice to anything like the required level. Not only that, she did not even know the number of floors in the apartment blocks, the residents of which were sitting in front of her and for which she was delivering this talk; the residents had to tell her. She also did not know where the evacuation assembly points were for the apartment blocks; she again had to be informed by some of the residents. She also did not know the fire safety ratings of the fire escape stairwells in the apartment blocks. On top of this, she admitted that she was unfamiliar with the Australian Capital Territory regulations. There were a few other aspects of which she was ignorant and had to be informed by the manager where he was able, which wasn’t always so.
The talk itself was rambling and was mostly answering questions, which in some cases remained unanswered. There was no PowerPoint presentation, which would have partly overcome the microphone cockup. If this is what is meant by fire safety training, we are all doomed if there is a fire.
I worked in an organisation which used to take its fire safety very seriously, such that we would have an evacuation drill every few months, and a testing of the fire alarm system monthly. Since moving in here over a year ago, we have had no fire drills, but have had a few tests of the fire alarm system.
Whether this farce of a talk was due to it being a response to a panicked request at short notice to give the talk, or it was just a lack of ability and knowledge on the part of the speaker, I do not know. Which ever it was, it was hopeless.
Some time after the talk, there were jokes spreading around that all residents were to be provided with a suitable length of rope and instructions on abseiling. One wag suggested that rope ladders would be provided to residents. You have to laugh.
