Assembly points on Thomas Street good intentions, bad locations

Jun 21, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

A positive and noticeable action can be seen in the creation of assembly points in front of the Eureka Laboratory and the Medical Arts Facility on Thomas Street, Georgetown. These are recognised and necessary health and safety measures by international standards and a mandatory requirement for most non-residential buildings in developed countries.
However, and unfortunately, both signs were badly positioned and will miss their objective, which is, to safely accommodate a specific number of persons exiting a building during an evacuation. Assembly points are also referred to as assemble areas and allow for accountability of persons after exiting a building during an evacuation.
In the establishment of an assembly point, consideration must be given to what type(s) of danger(s) occupants within buildings are likely to face and what requirements would be necessary for an evacuation. If there was an outbreak of a fire at either facility, patrons escaping and assembling at these locations would be at an increased risk of being harmed by the fire and causing a hindrance to firefighters performing their duties. Occupants exiting these two facilities during an evacuation will also have to contend with the moving traffic on the roadway adjacent to the buildings; an existing hazard.
The above probabilities prove that persons escaping a fire from within the buildings and gathering at the proposed assembly points would still be at a great risk of injuries or causing an obstruction to the firefighters on site.
Management of the Eureka Laboratory and the Medical Arts Facility should therefore consider relocating and establishing appropriate and safer areas for use as assembly points. One such option that could be considered and investigated is the reserved land north of Lamaha Street.
I congratulate the administrators of these two medical facilities for their bold and positive initiatives. Let’s continue to put the interest and safety of others first.

Sincerely,
Kwesi Amsterdam
Member, Chartered Institute of Building, UK

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