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Up Coming Annual SAFETY SABBATH and Fire Drill
For a number of years, the North American Division and Adventist Risk Management have designated a Sabbath near to the end of March as Safety Sabbath and recommends that each Church conduct a Fire Drill on that day.
Unfortunately, the winter season is longer in Alberta and the weather is still likely to be cold at that time; therefore the Alberta Conferences has designated SAFETY SABBATH (on an annual Standing Basis) to occur on the Sabbath following Victoria Day in May. This year the Alberta annual SAFETY SABBATH will be on May 24, 2025.
A Fire Emergency Preparation Checklist has been sent to each church that will assist in ensuring that your church/buildings are well positioned to avoid fire and that procedures are in place to exit the building fully and safely should a fire occur.
I would also like to draw your attention to section 8 of the Checklist – Emergency Procedures and Evacuation Plans. Key items in this section indicate that:
• Emergency Procedures and Evacuation Plans should be posted on every level of the church, including the building layout showing exit routes.
• Emergency contact information should be posted on every level.
• Meeting spaces/rooms with capacity of 60 or more:
must have two exit doorways to ensure that an alternate exit is available if one exit is blocked by fire,
must have a sign posted stating the maximum capacity for the room,
must have the room layout posted in the room along with exit routes.
• Exit routes throughout the building should be kept open and uncluttered.
• Muster points must be determined and identified.
In preparation for Safety Sabbath, each church should use the checklist to review the readiness for a fire incident and the “practice” fire drill.
I would also encourage each church congregation to liaise with the local fire department for advice on improving the “fire readiness” of their facility. Most fire departments welcome that opportunity and are very willing to come to the site and get to know the facility/staff. Quite often they are
also able to assist in determining the maximum occupancy for large rooms so that a sign can be posted (if it was not posted previously).
I realize that quite a number of the congregations do not own a church facility and meet in rented locations. As such, the focus on safety will likely need be scaled back as compared to those who own their church facilities.
However, many aspects of preparedness are still applicable even though you do not own and fully control the building. Please speak with the rental property owner to see if it may be feasible to conduct a fire drill.
Thanks very much for your support and diligence on these matters.
Adventist Risk Management has provided a number of documents to assist in preparing for the fire drill.
adventistrisk.org/en-CA/Safety-Resources/Solutions-NewsLetter/2023/February/NADENG-Safety-Sabbath-2023-Preparing-Your-Church-W adventistrisk.org/en-CA/Safety-Resources/Topics/Fire-Drill adventistrisk.org/getmedia/80dc22bf-425e-4626-af9a-8a800044b92c/Guide-FireDrill-TeachersGuide-NAD-CAN-EN.pdf?ext=.pdf adventistrisk.org/getmedia/1df39d5a-035c-4349-a664-8b831932fc6c/SS2023-DrillPlanning-DOsDONTs-NADEN.pdf?ext=.pdf adventistrisk.org/getmedia/449f9b15-350f-4acf-b0ef-f7a408eba439/Guide-FireDrill-NAD-CAN-EN.pdf?ext=.pdf adventistrisk.org/getmedia/65030c9a-29c2-4ee6-8a62-aceac8cf96c1/FireDrill-AssessmentTool-NADEN.pdf?ext=.pdf adventistrisk.org/en-CA/Safety-Resources/To pics/Planning-for-Safety-Sabbath
