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The following evacuation procedures are intended for anyone with a permanent or temporary disability who is unable to evacuate a building unassisted or via the stairwell. You are asked to contact the Student Accessibility Centre and/or Security and Traffic if you have specific concerns. All information provided will remain confidential; only those persons coordinating the required assistance will have access to your information. Students with disabilities are also advised to inform their professors/instructors that they may require assistance during an evacuation.
The University will make its best efforts to ensure there is barrier-free access to buildings including parking areas, pedestrian routes, accessible entrances (ground level with automatic door openers), elevators and accessible washrooms.
The University accepts as a priority that future construction of campus facilities will incorporate principles of universal design and barrier-free access. Recognizing our unique challenges, e.g., the topography and legacy of old buildings on the Fredericton campus, work continues towards the renovation of existing facilities to ensure accessibility is a priority.
If you require additional assistance during emergency, you are recommended to contact the Student Accessibility Centre and/or Security and Traffic, preferably prior to arriving on campus so that your individual needs may be adequately considered.
All members of the university community, including students with disabilities, are reasonably expected to take responsibility for their own personal safety. Please take the following steps upon arriving to campus:
You are encouraged to read and become familiar with the "In Case of Fire" procedures which are posted in all university buildings adjacent to fire pull boxes, the Emergency Procedures booklet (gold in color) posted in all buildings on bulletin boards and near telephones, or access emergency procedures, including the procedures for the fire wardens who will assist you.
Fire drills are conducted in each building in each semester. Fire extinguishers are routinely inspected and maintained by Facilities Management.
The dean, chairperson or administrative head of the unit is responsible to ensure that fire wardens are designated for all larger buildings/complexes and in any building where persons with disabilities may require additional assistance to safely evacuate. Fire wardens are usually faculty members or support staff volunteers who are also caring members of the departmental safety committee.
Fire wardens are responsible to provide assistance to all occupants of the building and Security personnel during emergency evacuations as well as practice drills. Fire wardens and their alternates are responsible for coordinating the orderly evacuation of their floor/section of the building as follows:
If you cannot safely evacuate, proceed with your buddy to the designated safe area you have arranged with Security and Traffic. The safe area is normally the nearest fire exit stairwell (do not enter the stairwell; remain just inside the set of fire doors at the head of a stairwell) and provided there is no immediate or apparent danger, wait with your buddy until the main flow of traffic has passed. Make your presence known to the fire warden in the area. Fire wardens can be identified by the orange arm bands that they wear during an emergency evacuation. The fire warden will inform emergency responders of your location. Fire exits are fire-rated and provide a safe refuge, therefore you will be quite safe there until evacuated.
Once out of the building, the fire warden will report your location to the chief warden. The chief warden in turn will relay this information to the Fire Department who will assume control of the emergency situation and decide how to effectively respond. The Fire Department might conclude that you are in no danger and that evacuation is not required.
If, on the other hand, evacuation is necessary, the Fire Department can over-ride the controls that operate the elevator. If the fire fighters decide that they cannot safely use the elevator, with their specialized equipment and training, they can physically evacuate anyone needing assistance by other means.
We are fortunate on the UNB Fredericton campus that the Fire Department is nearby and can normally respond to a University alarm within minutes. Under these conditions, a person with disabilities is far safer to wait a few extra minutes to be assisted by professionally trained fire fighters.
When the fire alarm sounds, and if there is no fire warden in the building, you should:
By remembering these simple procedures you will be able to better react during an emergency. If you have any questions, please contact the Student Accessibility Centre or Security and Traffic.
Under no circumstances should elevators be used to evacuate unless you are directed to do so by a member of the Fredericton Fire Department. Using an elevator during an emergency, such as a fire, could seriously endanger your personal safety.
It is the responsibility of the professor/instructor to evacuate the classroom or lecture hall in an orderly fashion by the nearest and safest exit route. Fire wardens will oversee the evacuation from the section or floor of the building.
Upon discovery of the fire:
All maintenance concerns, such as interruption to utility services, should be reported to the Facilities Management Work Control Centre during normal operating hours at 453-4889 or after hours to Security at 453-4830. Inquiries relating to interruption in communications should be directed to the IT Service Desk at 457-2222.