Dubai Customs has conducted a successful fire drill involving all staff and clients present at the main building at the time. The exercise was in fulfillment of ISO 14001 standard for environmental management system, and OHSAS 18001 standard for occupational health and safety management system.
The fire drill was successfully conducted on Sunday 15th of March, at 08:38 am, and it took 5 minutes to evacuate around 775 employees and customers, compared to the 8 minutes for the same during the previous drill conducted in May 2014.
The Director of Administration Affairs at Dubai Customs, Ahmed Obaid Al Falasi mentioned that the exercise, which was well received by all employees, particularly DC’s top management, was meant to prepare the staff for cases of emergency like fire.
Al Falasi commended the high responsiveness of the Civil Defence, Dubai Police and Ambulance Services, which arrived at the scene as follows:
- Civil Defence at 08:46 am
- Dubai Police at 08:46 am
- Ambulance at 08:47 am
That is less than 9 minutes all together, although only officers were notified with the fire drill and the crew weren’t. Lights were off and the alarm on at the building the entire time, as would be the case when a fire breaks.
The Director of Administration Affairs at Dubai Customs added that 28 coordinators from various administration units at DC were trained before conducting the fire drill, so as they will help other employees while using the emergency exits out of the building. They were given distinctive jackets to be recognized by anyone who needs help.