Waking Watch: Take Nothing for Granted

In October 2020, ARMA and recognised fire prevention organisations supported the National Fire Chiefs’ Council in updating their 2017 Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance.

This article was first published in News On The Block magazine, issue 113.

This goes back to the weeks and months post Grenfell when other purpose-built blocks of flats were found to contain similar external walls systems. Rather than decanting thousands of residents into alternative housing, interim solutions were sought so residents could remain at home. Safely.

For many of these previously labelled ‘Stay Put’ blocks, the increased risk of fire and its spread meant a change to evacuation policies “supported by the installation of a common fire alarm and/or a Waking Watch”.

Waking watch - a new term?

Waking Watch may not have been a new term for property managers back in 2017 but certainly one that the vast majority had never had to utter. The simple aim of such patrols of the common parts and exterior building perimeters is to support an evacuation strategy – i.e. help to get everyone out in the event of a fire.

For various reasons well publicised over the last four years since Grenfell, many high-rise blocks of flats remain clad in ACMs or have deficient fire compartmentation (or both). As a result, “interim” waking watches have, unfortunately, persisted. Even in cases where a fire alarm system has been installed as a major mitigator (with or without help from the government’s Waking Watch Relief Fund), the ascertained risk often remains sufficiently high to warrant continued waking watch.

Unpopular costs

As the costs of fire warden patrols have been largely passed to leaseholders through service charges, they have proven to be deeply unpopular. Even after the most recent fire in a clad block in east London last month, leaseholders and other commentators took to social media to pour scorn on the waking watch, despite every indication that the personnel on site saved lives. The waking watch team spotted the smoke, were the first to call emergency services and put themselves in harm’s way to raise the alarm and evacuate those closest to the source of the fire.

Training makes all the difference

Whilst the misconception that all waking watches are a waste of money is simply untrue, it is essential that such fire patrols are effective and that means the right training regime. The right training means nothing taken for granted.

Due to demand for waking watches, we have trained fire wardens from scratch, starting with fire awareness e-learning/assessment, ending with practical on the job training which includes shadowing experienced managers for multiple shifts in the building that they will be patrolling.  Scenarios are established so that the practicalities of using radios, speaking clearly and being able to pinpoint exact locations on the site, are practiced and practiced again. The same with loud hailers and airhorns. Knowing each block on a large site intimately is vital; each building likely has a unique postcode and the emergency services will want to know the correct one when called in the event of a fire.

Undeniable benefits

Cledor has seen the benefit in waking watch personnel holding regular visits on site with fire officers, particularly the high profile and high-risk sites where the fire brigade most fear a fire breaking out. Fire officers can then satisfy themselves that the waking watch is working as it should and take comfort in the daily reports provided to them.

No-one wants fire patrols in place any longer than necessary. But while they are necessary, they must be fit for purpose because the worse can and does happen.