Only half of City-based firms have a system in place capable of providing an accurate list of who is in a building in the event of an emergency evacuation, according to a new survey commissioned by Honeywell.
The research was carried out among 100 companies with more than 200 employees in the City of London.
Ninety-five per cent of these companies consider their evacuation procedures to be effective, based on their experiences of regular evacuation drills. However, the evacuation was automated (eg. smoke detectors would trigger doors to open and alarms to go off) in only 44% of cases.
According to Simon Ryan, Honeywell automation & control solutions service, automation and the presence of a security system capable of listing building occupants are crucial issues needing to be addressed, particularly for larger companies.
Sixty-nine per cent of companies surveyed say they could locate key assets quickly in the event of an emergency, largely due to storing back-up data at a remote site. Almost two thirds of the companies are confident they have disaster recovery plans in place to be able to set up their desks, and basic offices, including security arrangements overnight. Those with more than 500 employees claim this would be difficult for them to implemement beyond providing facilities for key members of staff.
Honeywell commissioned the survey to coincide with the launch of a series of seminars aimed at London’s facilities and IT managers. These sessions will focus on the design and construction of buildings and the integration of internal controls, including safety procedures.