Fire and Safety Drills Planned for Every UTSA Building
B.J. Simmons, coordinator of occupational and safety programs at UTSA, said
that the June 28 fire and safety drill in the Arts Building was successful,
and it’s just one in a series. Strong support from the UTSA administration
brought the return of regularly scheduled fire drills to help ensure the safety
of students, faculty and staff.
A drill will be scheduled for the third Thursday each month, with each building
having one drill per year. Occasionally, a drill might be cancelled due to
inclement weather or a lack of necessary personnel, but it is then rescheduled.
"Fire drills only take a short time, and they serve as a way for everyone
to be familiar with evacuation procedure and the location of fire extinguishers
and pull boxes in work areas, public areas and classrooms. We find that even
some veteran employees may need to be reminded where extinguishers and pull
boxes are," said Simmons.
"We also use drills to do a mechanical check on fire alarms and panels.
Almost every building on campus has had an alarm upgrade, so it’s an
opportunity to be sure everything is working properly," added Simmons.
Campus buildings have varying types of audio and visual alarms. Visual alarms
are in the form of a white strobe light or a flashing red light. Upcoming
drills will be publicized online in UTSA Today and in UTSA Update, the e-mail
newsletter sent to all UTSA employees.
For more information about fire drills or building evacuation plans, contact
B.J. Simmons at 458-5809.