Health and Safety in the Gherkin Building London - Case Study Example

Name: University: Course: Tutor: Date: Gherkin Building London: Health and Safety in the Gherkin Building London Abstract The issue that surround Gherkin building in London is how effective are the evacuation procedures that they have in place. It is essential to warrant safety in case of emergency in the building to its occupants at the time of emergency. In this work, a descriptive approach was used to solicit the answers to the issues that are linked to the effectiveness of the evacuation procedures in Gherkin building. The sought to be answered research questions involved; How many people that the crisis service personnel’s can expect to come in a comprehensive emergency at the Gherkin building? Is the method of evacuation the most appropriate and practical approach to offer protection in London in an instance of big emergency? Are the recent evacuation plans the most comprehensive enough to enhance the evacuation process in case of an enormous emergency? The data that was paramount to the answering of these questions was gathered through the research of literature and interviews undertaking towards the evaluation of the evacuations effectiveness. This was done in line with the need to offer the required protection to the occupants in and around the Gherkin building against the dangers most likely to happen. Objectives The need of having evacuation procedures at Gherkin building revolve around answering of the following questions. This is set towards the objective of safety in the building. a. How many people that the crisis service personnel’s can expect to come in a comprehensive emergency at the Gherkin building? b. Is the method of evacuation the most appropriate and practical approach to offer protection in London in an instance of big emergency? c. Are the recent evacuation plans the most comprehensive enough to enhance the evacuation process in case of an enormous emergency? Having practical answers to these questions is an approach that is applied in the Gherkin building towards safety in case of emergencies and unexpected circumstances such as the fires and bomb scares. Introduction The Gherkin building is a skyscraper that is found in the main business district in London. This structure has forty floors and it stands at 180 meters elevated. Due to the height and the dangers that may arise in cases of emergency, higgledy-piggledy mass departure could result to confusion. More so, injuries will be more that significant and it may result to personalized disabilities. The building evacuation procedures include an emergency action plan that outlines the conditions under which it is indispensable to undertake evacuation as well as the circumstances under which it would be better to do a shelter -in area. In addition, the emergency plan outlines the chain of command and the person designed and accorded the authority to power mass departure and according to the situation shutdown. The emergency plan at the Gherkin building does further more outline the procedures of helping all the workers and guests to evacuate from the business hub house, with great emphasis on those with disabilities and inability to speak English. It in addition outlines, what the employees in the building can do in case they are trapped after the evacuation alarm is rang, such as the shutdown of the critical operations, before they are helped out. Emergency procedures in Gherkin building, does more over outline the methodology of accounting for occupants after they are evacuated, and the special equipments necessary such a life support tools and respective respirators. The managerial team on the Gherkin building in London is supposed to do certain things to ensure that safe evacuations are possible in case of emergencies. They should ensure that all fire exists are not locked up and the doorways, antechambers and the flight of steps are not blocked in any way either. It is their duty to as well test the on regular basis the backup systems and the safety arrangements to ensure that they are doing well and incase of underperformance, they are repaired. Such includes the urgent situation illumination and interactions. It is necessary that the Gherkin building have trained floor wardens that are able to sound the alarms and help the employees evacuate. The responsibility of conducting periodic emergency drills on evacuation, and the establishment of the designated meeting locations outside Gherkin building, as well as the identifying special needs cases, which will need a complete backup in emergencies, is the other roles that the management ensures are in place at Gherkin building. The occupants on the other hand, are expected to be ware of the Gherkin building emergency evacuation plans, and at least be aware of two or more exists from their areas. They should be able to recognize the signaling methods related to the evacuation alarms, as well as being familiar with the person to contact and the steps from ones position to safety in case one is trapped in the dark. The employees in the London Gherkin building are supposed to be aware of evacuation alarms, location, and their operations and have the responsibility of reporting damage of the support systems and security systems. Gherkin Building Evacuation Procedures According to the emergency section, Gherkin building should be evacuated after the sirens are heard and not staying for longer than 30seconds after the siren. It is advised that the occupants should cease all undertakings and get out of the building immediately. This should take place though the allocated in case of danger exits. For example, in Gherkin building, safety staff is supposed to direct the occupants on the safe way out and they are color coded for easy identification. The building superintendent should be in a white hat in times of emergency while the level wardens and their safety counterparts are supposed to be in carroty hats on the other hand. In case of a bomb threat in Gherkin building, it is advisable not to activate the alarm system and one should try to communicate to the safety team and try to gather as much information as possible. It is advisable if possible one to try to find the location of the bomb, its features, and physical shape and the likely time of explosion. In case the employee is the one who receives the call of a bomb threat, he or she is supposed to entice the caller into more talk after which he or she is supposed to call the emergency telephone on xxx2222, and report the threat to the experts. One should then move to a safe place from the Gherkin building and follow the safety personnel direction. Evacuation procedures evaluation on effectiveness Gherkin building has practical emergency evacuation procedures in place. These include the emergency procedure action plan and the roles of the managerial team of the structure to the task of the occupants. These methods are very effective. The outlining of the fact that evacuation should begin with the persons who are in need of assistance is very reasonable and practical. This is very effective method to have been adopted in Gherkin building and it is able to avoid the chances of the disadvantaged sustaining injuries. It is an approach that is advocated for by the international emergency organization. it is an approach that ensures all the parties are catered for, and the most vulnerable are made to get into safety as required. This approach is made more effective by the fact that, these most vulnerable victims should be positioned in a place near the safe doorways most far from the risk. It is as well given more weight by the fact that, there should be a designation of an individual to stay with the most venerable and make it known to the emergency respondents of the practical location. It is common in many tall building to avoid elevators in an emergency, but Gherkin building 40 floors is a special case. The advice of avoiding the elevator when for instance one is almost trapped by a fire in for instance 23rd floor, is to some improper. Occupants do not understand how they should not use the elevator to 24th floor and then get out of it. This approach of lift avoidance in the emergency does thus fuel debate. In Gherkin building, the lifts shutdown automatically such that no one can have access to their services in times of danger. The Gherkin building has instead emergency windows where one can get out and be taken into safety through a chopper. These windows are however hidden, to avoid cases of suicide and misuse. The evacuation procedures at the Gherkin building in London can be conclude as being the most efficient and effective in the efforts of trying to take control of the emergencies. This is because the approaches are reasonable to ensure that the entire vulnerable are easily fled from the likely risk in the building. The approaches have enabled the management of the building to be rated as one of the most effective towards the risk management in the tall buildings of the world. The team has evacuation procedures well spelt out ranging from bomb scares to fires and other threats such as the danger of collapse. Because they incorporate services to the mobility chaliced first, makes the evacuation procedures more reasonable. This is because the safety and evacuation personnel’s are frequently trained to make sure that they are practically set to offer services to safety to the miserable first. To make a conclusion that they are reasonable evacuation procedures at the Gherkin building in London is thus not misplaced. The Gherkin building evacuation procedures are made more effective by the initial building design and structure accounting of emergencies and evacuation of the occupants. The building boasts of an effective approach to emergency control of the building due to the number of the experts that they have and their relative skills as far as the emergency are concerned. It is reasonable that the Gherkin building management have warden organization to ensure that the wardens, whether floor or the supervisor are sharpened on daily basis on how to undertake evacuation. Evacuation procedures are justified on their effectiveness by the outlining of the roles and responsibilities of each concerned individual in Gherkin building. Responsibilities and the roles to play make it easy for evacuation because all the parties really know their designated areas in times of danger and threat. This ensures that role-play is effective and the situation is contained without stampede and conflict of tasks to undertake. Amongst all the approaches that are embraced in Gherkin building, the outlining of roles and responsibilities, make the evacuation procedure more reasonable. The relative action to take in varied dangerous circumstances is another very practical approach that facilitates the effectiveness of evacuation procedures in Gherkin building. There are well spelt out action to take in case of fire, varied from the options in case of a bomb threat and events of a quake, which mostly are the general approaches. In an event of varied situations, the safety staffs are aware of the moist practical, things to do and evacuate the occupants. No one is supposed to be seen dragging fire fighting equipments in events of a bomb scare of a quake unless there is a fire outbreak a well. Practicality of the various evacuation approaches ensures that Gherkin building emigration procedures are very reasonable and effective to curb the situations. Stairway usage in evacuation, the dos and don’ts, as well as the fire orders and the Gherkin building search using the emergency checklists such as the incase of a bomb threat approaches and checklist justifies how effective the evacuation procedures are at Gherkin building (Fleming, 2010, pp. 44- 56). Occasionally, the safety staffs at the Gherkin building are subjected to staff tragedy calisthenics to work on their competencies as far as the fighting with the likely to come on their way catastrophe is concerned. This boosts the ability and the chances of containing the situations after they take place. It is reasonable to conclude that, the evacuation procedures at the Gherkin building are practically the most effective approaches available in case of emergencies. The building has the most practical methodologies, which gives each of the occupant’s equal chances of being at a safe place away from the balding dangerous and frustrating circumstances. The building has the most modernized mechanisms to ensure that emergencies will not run out of hand if they happen. This makes clear that, Gherkin building evacuation procedures are significantly effective in the containing of emergencies and risky happenings. They are able to take control of the situation as they unfold be they bomb scares, the outburst of fires, or an earthquake situation. The evacuation procedures are thus qualified to be rated highly in safety of the Gherkin building occupants rendering. The structure has very effective, the most practical approaches towards safety evacuation procedures in place. Why the evacuation procedures were an option Safety consciousness: The selection of the evacuation procedures was influenced by the need of fleeing occupants from danger while the safety staff themselves are safe. The safety mechanisms such as avoidance of lifts during crisis not only benefit the occupants but the security personnel as well during the crisis. This is because if a victim gets into the lift in panic, the safety personnel would be tempted to get them out of the lift and in the process; he or she might be injured. This is very critical and it calls for efficient and safe evacuation procedures such as what Gherkin building has in place. Usage of the fire exits and being aware of two or more safety exits around an individual area of operations is critical. This is because it does not only ease the evacuation exercise but it does give options where one exist for instance is blocked or congested. Safety to the occupants, the safety staff and the likely to be visitor I one of the variables the facilitated the choice and implementation of the evacuation procedures in Gherkin building. Effectiveness and efficiency: This refers to how the evacuation methodology is able to get the most victims out of the Gherkin building within the shortest duration possible during crisis (Curtis, 2006, pp. 42-43). It is a variable that cannot be compromised and incorporates the evaluation of evacuation procedures before implementation to ascertain their likeliness of being reasonable at applicable as opposed to their preferences or options. It is therefore practical to say argue that the safety evacuation procedures at Gherkin building were chosen because they are efficient in and effective as per the requirement s and standards desired by a building of Gherkin kind. Cost: The amount of finances needed to facilitate a particular evacuation procedure is a variable that plays a critical in determining choice. The methodologies should be cost effective and affordable in the end by the building management. Evacuation procedures that require expensive mechanization such as choppers and cranes could not be implemented in Gherkin building. This is because they are very expensive to run and maintain. Most of them are even expensive, but their levels of performance are substandard. In Gherkin building, the choice of the evacuation procedures was influenced by the installation, running and mentainance costs. Ease of access. This means that the evacuation routes and procedures were determined by how well they are accessible to the victims in times of a crisis. Procedures those are long and hard to implement when a crisis strikes had to be left out, for kind that is more practical. Accessibility is a critical issue in times of crisis, and if an evacuation procedure is not at the very first expense of the victims, then it is not reasonable to have it implemented. This amongst other variables is what was scrutinized before the implementation of various evacuation procedures in Gherkin building. Training and development of the safety staff; Training is one of the most expensive undertakings in an organizational setting. It involves the recruitment of the human resources trainable and made to attain proficiency in the execution of responsibilities. It is at the expense of the organization and in this case the management of Gherkin building, to have experienced safety staff in place to conduct evacuations in times of danger. The process of advertising, selecting interviewing and recruiting employees is hard and complicated. Depending on the kind of evacuation procedures that are in place in an organization, and in this case the Gherkin building, various safety staff members are required. An implementation of very complicated evacuation procedure would be costly to the management of Gherkin building. Due to this, they opted for ways that were not in need of very advanced kind of training and staff development. This was because, adoption of a system that requires advanced expertise to conduct evacuation is not only expensive upon installation but it is in the long-term. It would be necessary to recruit on timely basis, which is expensive. Upon resignation, the Gherkin building management would be force to train fresh blood through similar procedures, which would not be reasonable. It is thus practical to argue that the need of training and developing the safety staff; as per the organizational implemented safety and evacuation procedures, played a big role in the choice of the methodologies preferred in Gherkin building. Sought advantage; this is the reason behind the existence of the particular option. The evacuation procedures were adopted due to their ability to satisfy the building requirement on safety and evacuation exercise. An evacuation procedure that was not effective in the Gherkin building sought method of evacuating occupants in crises was left out and only the most effective were adopted. It is thus practical to argue that, the reason behind having an evacuation procedure adopted in Gherkin building was influenced in a bigger way by the expected advantage of its availability in the building. Standards and quality played a bigger role in the choice of the evacuation procedures in Gherkin building. This is because; the structure is one of the most modernized business hubs not only in London but also in the globe. It requires evacuation procedures that are as per its standards and quality. The practice of sub standardized evacuation procedures would lead to public criticism, this would not be positive as far as the quality and design, and building structure of Gherkin building is concerned. The standards and quality of the building was an equal factor in the choice of the evacuation procedure that was implemented in Gherkin building. Legal requirements did as well play a vital part of determining the choice of to be implemented method of evacuating the victims in times of crisis. There are methodologies that are associated with the evacuation process in building that are of Gherkin standard and they are determined by the international bodies on safety and liability to the occupier in a building. Legally approved systems are the ones, which could be adopted in Gherkin building. This is because; due to its 40 floors and 180 meters height, it is a special case and all evacuation procedures had to be within the lawfully set standards and nothing short of it. It is thus practical to argue that, legal considerations did play a critical part in the process of determining the evacuation procedures that were adopted into Gherkin building. In summary, the choice of evacuation procedures inn Gherkin building was a critical thing to undertake. It needed greater skill and expertise to determine the appropriate systems and the reasons why they should have been adopted. Some as explained above are the legal considerations, the effectiveness and efficiency as well as the training and staff development needs that influenced choice. This is because affordable and most performing evacuation procedures were critical in Gherkin building as per the internationally accepted standards. Having the most effective and easy to practice evacuation procedures is a critical thing and Gherkin building was not exempted from the standard. As a result, the choice and implementation of the evacuation procedures required time, finances and expertise to choose based on sought advantage and how well each approach met the stipulated crisis management standards. References Curtis, V.2006. Legal Considerations for Fire and Emergency. Manchester: Delmar Cengage Learning. Fleming, R. 2010. Effective Fire and Emergency Services Administration. London: Fire Engineering Books & Videos. Read More