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Fire drill log

For the helpdesk team

Fire drill log

Section titled “Fire drill log”

Fire drills are required under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 — every workplace, every school. The drill log is the evidence the fire authority asks for at inspection.

What’s on a drill

Section titled “What’s on a drill”
  • Date + time — when it ran.
  • Type — announced or unannounced. (Unannounced drills are the more revealing benchmark — see gotchas.)
  • Location — which building / site if multi-site.
  • Drill lead — name of the person who ran the drill.
  • Headcount on site / evacuated to muster — how many were on-site and how many reached the assembly point. The difference flags any unaccounted-for individuals.
  • Evacuation time (seconds) — how long from alarm to muster complete.
  • Weather — context for interpreting the time (rain, fog, and cold all affect it).
  • Alarm audible throughout / all routes clear — binary flags for the two most common failure modes.
  • Observations — narrative of anything that didn’t go to plan: slow stragglers, locked exits, mis-mustering.
  • Follow-up actions — what’s been raised as a result.

How often

Section titled “How often”

The Fire Service generally recommends:

  • Termly at minimum for schools.
  • Half-termly if pupil age makes routine practice important (early years, special needs).
  • After any change — new building wing, change of fire procedure, new staff cohort.

Schools that drill once a year then fail an inspection don’t get a second chance — drill enough to be confident.

Common findings

Section titled “Common findings”
  • One exit always slower than the rest — usually means staff need re-training on which exit to use from a given zone.
  • Headcount doesn’t match expected — visitors not signed in, staff signed in but absent. Cross-reference with the visitor management on-site list to find gaps.
  • Specific groups slow (year reception, SEND learners) — adjust the assembly procedure.

Gotchas

Section titled “Gotchas”
  • The drill log is not an inspection of the fire system. That’s a separate compliance schedule (alarm test, emergency lighting, sprinkler service). Cross-reference but keep separate.
  • Unannounced drills are usually more revealing but harder to schedule politically. Plan with the head, not as a surprise to them.
  • Evacuation time targets vary — most secondary schools aim for 4 minutes; primary schools 3; SEN 5-6. Don’t write a target that beats reality.
Section titled “Related”