Emergency wardens

people around a table and one wearing a safety vest

Workplaces in BC must have emergency preparedness and response plans. Royal Roads' emergency program meets provincial regulations, and our emergency warden team plays a crucial role. They help to keep campus safe and help the university community prepare for and respond to emergencies.

Emergency warden team and duties

Emergency wardens help managers and supervisors ensure orderly evacuations of RRU facilities. Wardens are generally responsible for one floor or in some cases portions of one floor of a building.

Emergency captains assist wardens and tell the supervisor, plant operations and security, and fire officials that a building has been evacuated. If anyone is unable to be evacuated, emergency captains will relay their location or any other information necessary to the warden.

Know your area

As an emergency captain, warden or alternate, you must tour the building and floor where your area of responsibility lies.

  • Get to know which offices and work stations are usually occupied, how many people normally work there, and where the fire alarms and fire extinguishers are located.
  • You should also know the locations of exits and the assembly area outside of your building so that you can direct people in the event of an emergency. (Fire evacuation maps are posted in each work area on campus and they show the preferred evacuation routes and assembly/muster areas for each building.)
  • You should periodically inspect your escape routes (e.g., hallways and stairs) to check that no one is piling boxes, furniture or other obstacles that may interfere with an evacuation.
  • Make sure to introduce yourself and your alternate to the staff in your area so they already know you in case of emergency.

People who may need help evacuating

If someone in your work area is a person with a disability, uses a wheelchair or has hearing or vision impairments, they may need special help during an evacuation.

Here's what you can do to help:

  • Introduce yourself to them during your familiarization tour or as they come into your work area.
  • Go through the normal emergency evacuation process with them to learn about any additional requirements they have.
  • You may need to recruit a colleague who works near the person requiring assistance to act as a "buddy" and help them during an evacuation.

Evacuation process

Any time the fire alarm sounds in your building, it's considered an emergency. You will assist in evacuating the people on your floor using the "sweep and flee" procedure:

Sweep and flee

Wardens

  • Put on your hard hat and vest. Grab your flashlight, evacuation report and pen (clip into vest pocket).
  • Walk quickly — do not run — to the location on your floor furthest from the exit stairs you want people to use. Shout instructions to immediately evacuate the building using the evacuation route for your work location.
  • Walk through your assigned area and look into each office, workstation, washroom and closet where people may be located. Direct them out of the building and to the designated assembly area, where they must await further instructions. Close doors and windows on your way if it's safe to do so.
  • Once you believe everyone is out of the building, go directly to the assembly area so you're available to assist in directing the fire department or other emergency personnel to the source of the emergency.
  • When at your assembly area, double-check to see that all people who are normally in your work area are assembled.
  • Complete an emergency warden evacuation report and bring it to the emergency captain or, in their absence, to the supervisor, plant operations, security and the fire department. DO NOT return to your work area to search again.
  • The fire department or other authorized personnel will direct you when it is safe to return to your workplace. You may then communicate this update to the people from your who have been evacuated and assembled.

Captains

  • Put on your hard hat and vest. Grab your flashlight, emergency warden evacuation report and pen (clip into vest pocket).
  • After evacuating the building according to the process described above, immediately report to your building’s assembly area.
  • Collect all emergency warden evacuation reports and review them. Share the information with fire officials or other authorized personnel. (Reports are subsequently returned to RRU environmental safety officer.)
  • Fire officials or other authorized personnel will tell you when it is safe to return to your workplace. When they do, you can relay that message to the people from your area who were evacuated.
  • Ensure your emergency wardens are updated on all current information.

Regular drills and review

Regular evacuation drills are part of the emergency preparedness and response program. Emergency wardens may take part in reviews after drills to determine if an evacuation was fast enough and safe enough. These reviews help spot problems or issues that can help improve evacuation procedures.

Equipment

Emergency captains and wardens use certain equipment during emergencies and drills:

Emergency warden

  • blue colour-coded hard hat
  • high-visibility vest
  • flashlight
  • emergency warden evacuation report
  • pen (clip it into your vest pocket)

Emergency captain

  • red colour-coded hard hat
  • a high-visibility vest
  • flashlight
  • emergency warden evacuation report
  • pen (clip it into your vest pocket)

Additional equipment or replacements are available from the supervisor, plant operations and security.