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Evacuation Safety Systems

	Emergency Warning Intercommunications System EWIS stands for Emergency Warning Intercommunications System. The majority of our multi-story buildings have a device called an EWIS installed. The EWIS is used to warn the building occupants of an emergency and then advise them to evacuate It is usually located on the ground floor near the FIP. More information about the EWIS is available here.

	Emergency Break Glass Alarm If an EWIS is fitted in your building, you may find "Emergency" break glass alarm buttons. These alarm buttons are different to the Fire BGA's because they do not contact the Fire Brigade via the FIP. The Emergency BGA activates the EWIS to initiate an evacuation of the building. In some situations you may not need to contact the Fire Brigade but do need to evacuate the building. This is where the Emergency BGA can help. If you cannot find one anywhere in your building on the floors, there will be one on the EWIS itself.

	Emergency Door Release During an evacuation fire doors should be closed to prevent fire and smoke movement through the building. Doors that are rated fire doors, but used frequently during the day, are sometimes wedged open. This is not good because they are not closed in time during an emergency. On fire doors that need to be open during the day, an electromagnet door release mechanism is added. The doors are held back by the system until the fire alarm system activates, and then they are released automatically. Press the red button under the release mechanism to release the doors manually.

	Emergency EXIT Signs In Australia all emergency EXITS must be identified by the green illuminated sign with the white word "EXIT". These exits lead people to safety and eventually to a door that exits the building. In halls and corridors, an EXIT sign will have an arrow indicating which way people should head to find the emergency exit door or emergency stairs. Most emergency EXIT signs have a battery backup system to keep them illuminated after the power has failed. The battery back will not last all day but they will be on long enough for all building occupants to evacuate safely.

	Emergency Stairs During an evacuation building occupants need an escape route that is protected from fire and smoke. In multi-story buildings fire escapes are installed. These escape stairs are more fire and smoke free because of their solid construction and fire rated doors. The fire escape stairs typically lead to a ground floor exit door. The stairs should be wide with enough room for all building occupants to walk down safely. In some older buildings the fire escape stairs have been added to the building externally. They are usually made from metal. Older wooden ones will be replaced over time.

	Warden Intercom Phones (WIP) The WIP phones are red intercom phones. They are located throughout a building and designed to be used by Wardens or trapped building occupants. The WIP phones are connected to the EWIS and can be used to communicate between floors or zones. You cannot make an outgoing PABX or exchange call using these phones! More information about WIP phones can be found on the EWIS page.

	"Evacuation - Do Not Enter" Signs When everyone has evacuated the building it is often difficult to prevent people re-entering buildings when it is not safe, especially if you have many ground floor EXIT's. A few BEC's now instruct their Wardens to put signs out on every door to indicate to people that they should not be entering during the emergency. These signs should be obvious to anyone approaching them utilising bright colours and easy to read text. Using a elastic band often works best when securing them to door handles. These signs would need to be kept somewhere close to the ground floor so they can be accessed at any time.

	"BEC" Equipment Box Some buildings have made their own equipment box to house the response equipment for the BEC such as a first aid kit, megaphone, clipboard and checklists, spare helmets etc. This is an excellent idea and will ensure all the required equipment is at the Warden meeting point for use.