The Fire Emergency SOP

Keep the fire safety plan at the front desk and in the duty manager’s office: who does what, the escape routes, the assembly point and how to help guests with special needs. Where the law requires a plan (with 10 or more workers, or more than 50 people present), the hotel keeps it up to date.

At the start of every shift, the duty manager names the fire wardens on duty, one for each floor or zone, writes them on the shift sheet and says them at the line-up. The plan keeps enough wardens for every shift, days off and absences included.

Every fire warden holds the training the law sets for the hotel’s size. Above 200 beds, the higher level applies. Above 100 beds, wardens also hold the certificate of technical fitness issued by the fire service. Training is refreshed at least every five years.

At the start of every shift, the front desk prints the room list of guests who need help leaving: guests with a disability, with reduced mobility, hard of hearing, pregnant, with small children, or who asked at check-in. The duty manager gives a copy to each warden.

Keep the fire service’s number and the calling procedure posted beside every phone from which it can be called, and the fire instructions and floor plan in every room, at every floor and at the entrance, in English and the hotel’s other guest languages. They say the lifts are not to be used.

Every escape route and fire door is kept clear at all times: no trolleys, linen, deliveries or furniture. Anyone who finds one blocked clears it at once, or tells the duty manager.

Whoever sees fire or smoke raises the alarm at the nearest call point, then calls the front desk with the exact place. Do not wait to be sure, and do not try to deal with it alone first.

When the alarm sounds, the front desk reads the fire panel at once and radios the zone to the duty manager and to the warden for that zone.

“Fire alarm, third floor, east corridor, zone 3B. Giulia, please check zone 3B now and report back to me.”

The warden goes to the zone by the stairs, with a radio and the nearest extinguisher, and checks without opening any door that is hot to the touch. They report by radio what they see: fire, smoke, smell, or nothing.

Fight a fire with an extinguisher only if you are trained, the fire is small, and your way out is behind you. Otherwise close the door, leave, and report.

The check takes no longer than the time set in the fire safety plan. If the warden sees fire or smoke, cannot reach the zone, or has not reported back within that time, the fire service is called at once.

The duty manager gives one colleague, by name, the call to the fire service, from the phone with the procedure posted beside it. The colleague stays on the line and answers every question.

“Paolo, please call the fire service now: fire on the third floor, east corridor. Then tell me when they are on their way.”

Give the fire service the hotel’s name and address, where the fire is, how many floors and guests there are, and which entrance to use.

“This is [the hotel’s name], [the address]. There is smoke on the third floor, east side. About 80 guests are in the building and we are evacuating. Please come to the main entrance on [the street]; a colleague will meet you there.”

The duty manager decides the evacuation as the fire safety plan sets out, and confirms it by radio to every warden and to the front desk.

“All wardens, please evacuate now, by the stairs only. Report to me at the assembly point when your floor is clear.”

The duty manager sends a colleague, by name, to the entrance to meet the fire service, with the fire panel’s zone, the floor plans and the master key for the fire service.

Each warden sweeps their own floor from the far end towards the stairs: knock on every door, say who you are, and ask every guest to leave by the stairs. Check public toilets, the gym, the spa, meeting rooms and storerooms.

“Good evening, Mr Novak. Please leave your room now and follow me to the stairs. Leave your bags behind. We will meet in the garden.”

If a guest hesitates or wants to collect belongings, repeat the instruction once, calmly, with the reason.

“Mrs Laurent, the fire alarm is real. Please come with me now, by the stairs. We will look after everything else.”

No one uses a lift to leave, guests or colleagues, unless the lift is built for evacuation and the fire safety plan says so. Stand at the lifts on your floor and send guests to the stairs.

“Please don’t take the lift, Mr Okafor. The stairs are here, on your right. Let me show you.”

Close every door behind you once a room is checked, to slow smoke. Mark the room as checked, as the fire safety plan sets out.

If a room does not answer, use the master key and look in. Do not enter a room with smoke: close the door and report the room number to the duty manager.

When the floor is clear, the warden reports to the duty manager by radio, then leaves by the stairs and goes to the assembly point.

“Third floor clear, except room 312 not checked because of smoke. Leaving now.”

The warden goes first to every room on their floor marked on the list of guests who need help, and helps those guests to the stairs or to the safe refuge the fire safety plan names.

A guest who is hard of hearing may not hear the alarm. Knock, then enter with the master key, and wake them with the light and a hand on the shoulder if needed.

A guest who cannot use the stairs waits with a colleague in the safe refuge named in the plan. The duty manager tells the fire service on arrival exactly where they are, and how many.

“Mrs Haddad, I am staying with you. The fire service knows we are here, and they will help you down.”

Children, older guests and anyone unsteady are walked down by the hand, never sent ahead alone.

The front desk brings the guest list, the shift sheet with colleagues on duty, and the contractors’ and visitors’ sign-in sheets to the assembly point.

At the assembly point, colleagues call names from the lists and tick each person present. Keep guests together, away from the entrance and the fire service’s path.

“Good evening, Ms Rossi. Thank you for waiting here. May I tick your name, and is anyone from your room still inside?”

The duty manager collects the wardens’ reports and the roll call, and gives the fire service on arrival: where the fire is, who is unaccounted for, who is waiting in a refuge, and the rooms not checked.

Nobody goes back into the building, for any reason, until the fire service says it is safe. A colleague stands at each door to keep it so.

“I am sorry, Mr Novak, nobody may go back inside until the fire service gives the word. I will tell you the moment they do.”

Look after guests while they wait: blankets, water, a seat for those who need one, and the time of the next update. Anyone hurt or unwell follows The Medical Emergency SOP.

When the fire service gives the all-clear, the duty manager tells guests in person and invites them back in, floor by floor, with the lifts back in service only when the fire service allows.

Colleagues trained for it carry out the visual checks between services with the hotel’s checklist: extinguishers in place and sealed, hoses reachable, exit signs lit, fire doors closing, escape routes clear.

A qualified technician tests the fire equipment and systems at intervals of no more than six months, and the ventilation and air-conditioning system at least once a year, as the fire rules for hotels set out.

Training on the alarm, the calling procedure and the fire equipment, and an evacuation drill based on the fire safety plan, take place at least twice a year, as the fire rules for hotels require, so every shift has practised it. The drill does not call the fire service for real.

Run an extra drill after a serious shortcoming in a drill, a large rise in the number of people, or any change to the escape routes.

Write every check, test, repair, training session and drill in the register of checks, with the date and a signature. Keep the register up to date and ready for the fire service whenever they ask for it.

After every alarm or drill, write the incident report as The Incident Report SOP sets out, with the times, and thank every colleague who took part. The duty manager debriefs within 48 hours, as The Debrief SOP sets out.

“Thank you, Giulia. Your floor was clear in six minutes, and room 312 was the first thing the fire service heard about.”