Ask the expert: OSHA fire drill requirements
Q: What are the OSHA fire drill requirements for medical and dental offices?
A: Federal OSHA does not specifically require fire drills, but the agency’s Small Business Handbook recommends that employers “conduct frequent drills to ensure that all employees know what to do under stressful conditions.”
The National Fire Protection Association’s Life Safety Code® recommends periodic drills when 500 or more people occupy a building or when more than 100 people occupy areas above or below street level for business occupancies.
Freestanding medical and dental practices and clinics are usually classified as business occupancies, not healthcare occupancies such as hospitals and nursing homes which have specific fire drill requirements.
However, it is always a good idea to check with your fire authority for local ordinances, as it will have the last say on the matter.
For a fire drill checklist, go to the OSHA Healthcare Advisor Tools page. The checklist is appropriate for medical and dental practices and comes from HCPro’s Basic Medical OSHA Compliance Manual Kit.
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David LaHoda
David LaHoda, the managing editor of Medical Environment Update and OSHA Watch, has produced healthcare training videos and consulted for medical practices and ambulatory healthcare facilities.
David has written 196 posts.
Comments
When and how often is fire drills conducted at a health care facility that has medical, dental, optical and a pharmacy and aout 50 employees and at anygiven time 25 pateints in the building.
As explained in the post above, it depends on the occupancy. Check with the owner of the building or your local fire authority for the building’s occupancy classification. Business occupancies don’t require as much as ambulatory and healthcare occupancies in the way of fire drills.
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