Building Emergency Procedures and Resources
Denny Hall
Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) offers resources to help organizational units prepare for various types of building emergencies that may arise. This page provides documents that can be useful to help plan for these emergencies.
Additional information about responding to emergencies and conducting evacuation drills can be found on the Building Evacuation and Fire Drills page.
Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan
Organizational units are required to develop a written Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan (FSEP) for each campus building they occupy. EH&S provides fire safety resources to our campus partners, including a template to be used as a starting point to develop your Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan.
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Use the EH&S template to create a building-specific plan that outlines responsibilities, emergency procedures, evacuation procedures and evacuation methods and locations.
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Review the instructions on how to complete, publish and distribute your building’s Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan.
Have questions? Review the Frequently Asked Questions below or contact us at 206-685-0341.
Building emergency procedures
EH&S provides University units/departments with quick reference guides for responding to emergencies. You can add these guides to your Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan if desired.
These guides can also be useful tools to include in an evacuation warden's clipboard provided during Evacuation Warden Training. They have been developed primarily for the Seattle campus, but can be easily modified for other areas.
Active Shooter - A quick guide for actions to take when confronted with an armed individual
Earthquake - Actions to take before, during and after an earthquake
Elevator Failure - Simple guidelines to help ensure passenger safety in elevators
Explosion/Fire - What to do following a fire or explosion, or when the fire alarm activates
Additional resources
These devices are designed to save lives following sudden cardiac arrest. Information on purchasing, registering and maintaining an automated external defibrillator can be found on the Automated External Defibrillators webpage.
EH&S maintains a map to assist the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) in coordinating their response with the UW Police and support personnel. The UW Emergency Responders Map shows fire lanes, designated response points, hydrants, and fire department connections. Fire lanes are required per Seattle Fire Code Section 503 and may not be closed or obstructed without coordinating with the Fire Department. Some fire lanes may not be obvious because they also serve as major pedestrian paths.
Faculty, instructional staff and other academic personnel refer to the Faculty Preparedness in the Classroom webpage for information on preparing and responding to emergencies in the classroom.
In the event of a widespread disaster, larger groups may be directed by the UW Police Department or UW Crisis Communications Team to go to a campus Mass Assembly Area. These areas are equipped with emergency phones that can broadcast updates about the emergency situation. Refer to the UW Alert Blog for additional information.
If you have an emergency on the UW Seattle campus, you can get help using an emergency phone or other alert system that will connect you with the UW Police Department (UWPD).
In the event of a regional disaster, families and individuals should plan to be self-sufficient for at least three to seven days. You should have an emergency kit at home with food, water and medical supplies for all members of your household, including pets.
Employees are also encouraged to keep a smaller emergency kit on campus. Many departments have purchased the red “PreparePack” bags from PrepareSmart. This company offers a 10 percent discount to UW departments using the code UWSTAFF. Staff should customize their kits with any required medications and check regularly to make sure the supplies have not expired.
A building's evacuation director and evacuation wardens should be assigned or appointed by organizational unit(s) occupying the building to oversee preparation for emergencies and coordinate building evacuation procedures.
Visit the Building Evacuations and Fire Drills webpage for information on roles and responsibilities of evacuation directors and wardens.
EH&S conducts evacuation drills for most campus buildings to prepare for emergencies and in accordance with the International Fire Code. The evacuation director for each building works closely with EH&S to schedule, coordinate and evaluate each drill.
Visit the Building Evacuations and Fire Drills page for more information about conducting evacuation drills.
In rare cases, UW personnel may be allowed to delay evacuation in order stabilize a patient undergoing a medical procedure. These exemptions require additional training and administrative controls and must be approved in advance.
Exemptions must be requested in advance and must be re-evaluated every three years, or when staff and/or circumstances change. More information is available on the Evacuation Exemption Focus Sheet.
Complete the Building Evacuation Exemption Request Form to request an exemption,
Reporting a fire
Report all unintended fires, including unintended open flames and smoke without a visible flame, to EH&S at uwfire@uw.edu or (206) 685-0341. Visit the Fire Safety and Prevention page for more information on reporting fires.
Frequently asked questions
No. Any evacuation plan that meets the general intent of the International Fire Code, including an EEOP, is an acceptable substitution for a Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan. The FSEP template provided by EH&S aligns more closely with the International Fire Code and is easier to complete; however, using the FSEP template is optional. Depending upon workload, EH&S may be able to help a University unit/department convert their existing evacuation plan to the newer template. To request EH&S assistance call 206-685-0341.
For the purposes of developing a Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan, a building is usually defined by the area covered by the fire alarm system. In most cases, the building name defines the building. However, the following are exceptions where two or more named buildings are combined to form a single building for the purpose of developing a Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan:
- HSC Wings: C/D, E/F, G/H, H-Addition/G-Court/I-Court
- Physics/Astronomy
- Allen Center/Electrical Eng; Suzzallo/Allen Smith/Gowen; Mechanical Eng/Engineering Annex Johnson/Quaternary
- UW Tower S/C/O/T
- Willow Hall (HFS)
- Madrona Hall (HFS)
- Lander Hall (HFS)
- Maple Hall (HFS)
- Terry Hall (HFS)
There are pre-determined evacuation assembly points designated for the Seattle campus. View a map of all evacuation assembly points for the Seattle campus.
Select an evacuation assembly point that is nearby and within sight of the location where emergency services are anticipated to respond. In some cases, it may be necessary to select two evacuation assembly points (EAPs) so that occupants may take the nearest exit and avoid significant travel around a major building complex.
All building emergency procedures are available on the EH&S website (listed above). Link electronically to these procedures from your Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan, or print and include them with a paper Plan. Word versions are available for units that need to modify procedures for their building. For units that post their Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan on their building/unit internet site, it is easy to add these links to that location.
Completing a Fire Safety and Evacuation Plan is usually the first step in getting prepared for building emergencies. After completing your plan, you should:
- Distribute the plan (and emergency procedures) to building occupants;
- Identify evacuation wardens;
- Conduct a fire drill and critique drill performance; and
- Take steps to improve response to a building alarm and other emergency scenarios.
The written evacuation plan should be distributed annually and when updated, and used for new employee orientation.
No, not currently, with some exceptions on the Seattle campus. EH&S will work directly with evacuation directors and persons with disabilities to identify a location to take refuge.. For assistance, contact us at 206-685-0341.
