Fire Safety

September is Campus Fire Safety Month

The Office of Fire Safety would like to make everyone aware that the month of September has been designated as Campus Fire Safety Month across the Nation. The resolution was authored by our own Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ) and Congressman Bill Pascrell (NJ-8) and introduced in the United States Senate and House of Representatives.“Fire safety is an important issue on college campuses,” Sen. Frank Lautenberg said. “I hope National Campus Fire Safety Month will inspire colleges and universities around the country to improve their fire alarm systems and provide thorough fire safety education to all its students on a regular basis”.

The United States Fire Administration has developed a page with a wealth of information focusing on campus fire safety. Go to the page: www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/focus/campussafety.shtm

Coinciding with September as Campus Fire Safety Month, Kean University will be conducting emergency evacuation drills for every building on campus. This is an annual event each September that will assist our campus community on the proper procedures during an emergency evacuation of a building.

Our Campus Police will be assisting the Office of Fire Safety in the orderly evacuation of each building. The evacuation drills are designed to train our faculty and staff and to evaluate their efficiency and effectiveness in carrying out emergency evacuation procedures. Each drill should last no more than 10 to 15 minutes.

The week days of September 20 through September 28 has been allocated for conducting these emergency evacuation drills throughout our campus. Our eight residence halls will have completed evacuation drills prior to this time.

Prior to the actual evacuation drills the office of fire safety would like everyone to review the general fire safety policy and emergency action plan that has been established for Kean. Click here for PDF.

This emergency action plan contains specific information on what to do before an emergency (planning) - on discovering (reporting a fire) - upon hearing the fire alarm (evacuating a building) - as well as what to if you are not able to leave (sheltering in place).Also included within the emergency action plan is information for occupants with either permanent or temporary disabilities.

Emergency Evacuation Attendance Roster: Especially important is the requirement for accountability of personnel during an evacuation. During the month of September information will be provided on how to use the attendance roster on a daily basis for all faculty and staff. The roster will only be collected during an actual emergency. The attendance roster is located at www.kean.edu/fehs/forms/EmergencyEvacRoster.pdf

Each building has been provided with emergency evacuation floor plans showing the primary exit and a secondary exit as well as the external evacuation assembly area for your particular building. If you follow the link below you will be able to view the entire campus’s evacuation assembly areas located at:
www.kean.edu/admin/uploads/images/CampusPolice/Evacuation_Map.jpg

Important:

Please note the general fire safety policy has a section titled fire prevention. This section includes items that are prohibited throughout our campus to help prevent fires. If you have any questions with regard to the items listed please contact the Office of Fire Safety at 908-737-5010 or email magliarl@kean.edu

Building Evacuation for Occupants with Disabilities

The University is continuously updating its emergency evacuation list of building occupants with disabilities and/or conditions that could prevent them from evacuating a building. The list is updated each semester and is only accessible to campus police in case of an emergency. Emergency responder awareness of occupants with disabilities will help to ensure that all faculty and staff are evacuated to safety in the case of an emergency.

See the following document link, known as Kean’s Emergency Action Plan for additional information.
www.kean.edu/admin/uploads/fire_evacuationupdate_2012.pdf

The Michael H. Minger Foundation is developing materials focusing on fire safety for studentswith disabilities. It has released several videos featuring students with disabilities discussing how to stay fire safe. This September they will release a video on nine (9) campus fires that occurred across the nation in early 2012. The video will feature interviews with the survivors, the families, the schools and the fire department. The documentary tells “the rest of the story.” You can view the videos and a wealth of research information compiled by the Foundation at
www.mingerfoundation.org

Those who feel that they may have difficulty evacuating their building in case of an emergency, such as without the use an elevator, are encouraged to contact Lou Magliaro at 7-5010 or via e-mail at magliarl@kean.edu.