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The College of Development Communication (CDC) with the Bureau of Fire Protection conducted a fire drill last September 8, Thursday at the CDC building.

The students, faculty members, REPS, and staff vacated the building in less than three minutes.

The fire drill is a pooled initiative of the UPLB Occupational Health and Safety Committee (OHSC) and the CDC's own Occupational Health and Safety Committee. The CDC staff prepared guidelines and regulations in accordance to the standards set by the OHSC. The College is also responsible for the implementation of the fire safety audit, wherein the whole CDC building was checked for fire security two weeks prior to the fire drill. The fire safety audit is one initiative of the College which is not conducted by other colleges as part of their respective fire drills.

There were no major problems encountered by the College during the implementation of the drill. There are, however, several problems that arose during the fire safety assessment which was conducted beforehand. Some of these include the absence of fire exits on the second floor of the building, lack of fire extinguishers, non-strategic placing of fire control devices, non-assessment of fire hydrants for effectiveness, and misuse of machine rooms that are supposed to be alternative exits in case of fire emergencies.

In order to be assured of fire safety, the college personnel sought for recommendations from the Los Baņos Fire Department. They recommended reworking of exposed electric wires, provision of additional fire extinguishers, and relocation of the extinguishers  to more strategic places.

After the success of the fire drill, the College is ready to conduct another fire drill next semester. This includes training for rescue, evacuation, and the proper usage of fire extinguishers.

"Fire drill is something that should be taken seriously. Buhay 'yung nakasalalay dito so we should be prepared," said Ms. Ma. Cristina Ciejay J. Calara, University Extension Specialist and Chair of the CDC OHSC.

"[The fire drill] was a success. I think everybody enjoyed it and they learned a lot from it. We hope to conduct more drills para sa earthquakes and for other emergencies," she added.

It was five years ago when the last fire drill was administered in CDC. According to the requirements set by  the UPLB-OHSC, the university should conduct fire drills annually, but it was impossible for all nine colleges in the UPLB to perform such every year. Exam schedules, for instance, posed barriers for the implementation of the program.

The administration of fire drills on all colleges is just one of the mandates of the UPLB-OHSC. Others would include tests on water safety in university dormitories and proper disposal of chemicals within the campus boundaries, all of which should be conducted on a regular basis.

The College of Development Communication
University of the Philippines Los Baños
College, Laguna 4031, Philippines
Telephone: (63) (049) 536-2511, (63) (049) 536-2433
Fax: (63) (049) 536-2429
Email: mail@devcom.edu.ph