Emergencies: are your on-site staff ready?

Photo: Stephanie Belton

All engaged members of on-site staff have a job to do.

By and large they want to do that job without undue stress and focus their efforts on pleasing the residents and supporting their property manager day-to-day. And that will be the reality most of the time. However, whatever the on-site role (concierge, estate manager, cleaner), if there is an emergency in their building, then they need to know what to do, calmly and effectively. 

Definition of an emergency

This is always going to be subjective, as an emergency to a resident may not be defined as one to a property manager. Someone getting locked out of their flat needs to be dealt with, but is unlikely to be classed an emergency. Here is a non-exhaustive list of what we regard as an emergency on site: 

• Fire

• Severe escape of water

• Lift entrapment

• Someone being taken seriously ill

• A death of a resident

• Terrorist incident

• Intruder/thief in the building

• Domestic violence

• Lack of basic services (water, heating, electricity, gas)

What would your on-site individual or team do if one of the above occurred? Call you? Call the emergency services? Panic?

Training, prevention and preparedness

Whilst property managers are, with any luck, trained to deal with crises at the blocks of flats they manage, it’s the on-site staff who are at the business end of things. So how can property managers ensure that their staff are prepared should the worse happen?

Training

• Practical training, not just sit-in front-of-a-white-board training. If someone is trapped in a lift, what do you do? Can you communicate with them? Are they unwell? Can they wait for the lift engineer to attend? Should the fire brigade be called? 

• Bespoke on-site training, specific to the site itself, its layout, unique features, etc

• Role playing, to act out – realistically – potential emergencies.

• Understanding the fire strategy for the building – stay-put/evacuate, and how to tackle recent (fair and unfair) criticism of stay-put policies.

Prevention and Mitigation

• Vigilance – noticing something out of the ordinary before a crisis has taken hold, regularly reminding residents to be vigilant themselves.

• Keeping escape routes clear.

• Spotting and reporting maintenance issues with sensors, fire doors, CCTV, alarms, lighting – including how to interpret complex fire alarm panels. Checking the lift phone line works.

• Ensuring servicing of equipment takes place and follow ups.

• Reminding residents to check their plumbing.

• Being proactive in reporting issues to the managing agent – suspicious/anti-social behaviour, flammables in flats or car parks, elderly/vulnerable residents living alone.

Preparedness and Action

• Knowing the building/development inside and out, including location of exits.

• Knowing what to check if there is an indication of an emergency.

• Knowing if vulnerable people are in the building and if applicable, contact details of their care network.

• Being ready to execute an evacuation of the building and how best to help those disabled or vulnerable.

• Taking charge of an emergency, being ready to communicate clearly and concisely with the emergency services.

• Practicing alerting all residents and owners of an emergency, by using the IT/portal systems provided.

• Having keys to the flats and emergency contact details for all residents.

• Checking the supply of hi vis jackets and that torches have sufficient charge.

The Cledor way

The on-site staff we provide are not seat warmers. They are trained, re-trained, and prepared to deal with crises and emergencies that may never happen. They do happen though, and turning to a provider of on-site who has the experience of dealing with emergencies such as those above should give you as the property manager and your clients the peace of mind you all deserve.