Knowledge of evacuation and emergency response in a residential home for the elderly

Abstract

It is a general requirement that emergency procedures at any place of work are pre-planned and that planning should refer to the needs of all occupants (Legal Notice 36 of 2003). The design and the structure of a building should be safe to occupants in case of accidental fire (Fire Safety 福利在线免费, 2012). Therefore, it is essential to identify the needs of all the people so that the necessary arrangements are made for their assistance in the event of an emergency evacuation. Employers are to establish safe strategic plans in the eventuality of life threatening situations (Chadder, Duncan & Heighway, 2012). Hypothetically, all members of staff are to be trained to perform an evacuation or an emergency response in case of fire since they work in such environment as per L.N. 36 of 2003. Under the same Legal Notice and L.N. 44 of 2002 as amended by L.N. 437 of 2012 it is assumed that residential homes for the elderly, which are the subject of this research, are in line with the minimum Health and Safety requirements. However, is adequate training being given in order to perform an effective evacuation in case of a fire, bomb threats or other emergency response evacuations? The aim of this research study is to investigate whether the environment at Zammit Clapp Home for the Elderly is safe in respect to fire evacuation and the extent and frequency of training required for the personnel in this context, in order to perform in the safest of manners during an emergency situation. The findings and recommendations of this study were made available to the Director of the residential home for the elderly in order to maintain and Improve if necessary safety standards in such environments. Result shows that most of the employees have lack of both training and knowledge on how to respond to a fire emergency and as well lack of fire evacuation procedures. This is due to the fact that there is a high employee turnover and that the allocated budget and resources for such training is leaving a negative impact on the employer. This turnover could be a result of lack of job satisfaction. Therefore, the employer must improve employee standards in order to minimize such personnel turnover. In the long run, by improving the working standards, employers will benefit financially by preventing employee resignations and eventually reducing employee turnover.