Management of Emergencies
An emergency is a dangerous situation, an unexpected event or circumstance with the potential to result in harm to people or property, which requires exceptional and urgent action to deal with it.
At PoliTO, technical, organisational and administrative measures are implemented to deal with emergencies that could arise on its campuses.
An Emergency Plan (EP) has been drawn up for each campus in order to:
- deal with emergency situations as soon as they arise to limit the effects and restore normal conditions as quickly as possible;
- plan the action needed to protect the safety and health of staff and the public;
- safeguard buildings and assets and limit any damage to these.
Each EP describes the activities carried out on the campus, the construction and plant engineering features (active and passive safety measures) and defines the procedures that must be followed in an emergency by all the parties involved, whether or not evacuation is necessary, including the procedures for requesting the intervention of the Emergency Services if necessary.
In detail, the EPs assign specific duties to the following:
- Reception desk staff and Unarmed Security Service staff (in Italian VNA - only at the Headquarters and Cittadella campus), responsible for managing internal communications, including coordination with any external organisations using PoliTO facilities, providing assistance at the site of the emergency and facilitating the work of the emergency services, according to the specific procedures in place at each campus;
- emergency team staff (in Italian ASE) i.e., workers at PoliTO appointed by the Employer and trained as Fire-prevention officers for high-risk activities and Company First Aid Operators for Group B companies, who must provide assistance at the site of the emergency and help to evacuate the rooms and make the buildings safe;
- emergency coordinator (in Italian COE) responsible for directing the action to be taken and, where necessary, for giving orders to call the emergency services and/or evacuate the buildings;
- nursing services (at the Headquarters only), called upon to act in the case of medical emergencies;
- Building services technical staff, called upon to make buildings safe, manage detector and loudspeaker systems, extinguishers, etc.
EVACUATION DRILLS
The Health and Safety Services Unit (PREP) organises emergency drills from time to time, to test the alarm, emergency and evacuation procedures defined in the Emergency Plans of the various campuses.
Drills are carried out at least once a year on each campus. At complex sites with several separate buildings, drills are performed for each building or fire-prevention sector.
Emergency drills require the active participation of all employees with a specific role in dealing with emergencies, as defined in the EP. Moreover, all workers, students and any visitors who are in the area where a drill is carried out are required to take part and follow the instructions issued by the employees responsible for dealing with the emergency, as well as any instructions given over the loudspeaker system.
EMERGENCY TEAM STAFF
Emergency team staff trained in use of semi-automatic defibrillators