A fire plan is not the drawing on the wall. It is the set of decisions about who does what, and the drawing is one way of communicating part of it. Plans fail in practice for the same three reasons every time: nobody knows who is in charge, nobody knows who is still inside, and the assembly point is somewhere people will not stay.
What the plan must cover
The Fire Safety Order requires procedures to be established for serious and imminent danger, people nominated to implement them, and the procedures not to be put into effect until the danger has ceased. In practice that means the alarm signal and what it means, the routes out, who sweeps which area, who takes the visitor book, where people go, who counts them and who talks to the fire service on arrival.
The escape route drawing
The plan on the wall shows the reader where they are, the routes from there, the final exits and the assembly point, oriented the way the reader is standing. Keep it simple. A drawing with every room labelled and the whole building shown at once is read by nobody in an emergency and by the enforcing officer at leisure, which is the wrong way round.
Knowing who is still inside
This is where most plans fall down. A signing in book that lives at reception and burns with it, or a system that records employees but not contractors and visitors, leaves somebody guessing at the assembly point. Whatever the method, it has to be available outside the building, and somebody has to own it. Roll call at a small site and area sweeps at a large one are the two workable patterns.
What a drill actually tests
Not whether people can walk outside. It tests whether the alarm was audible everywhere, whether the routes were clear, how long the building took to clear, whether the sweepers knew their areas, whether anybody needing assistance was accounted for, and whether the assembly point worked in the weather on the day. Recording those findings, and fixing them, is the value; the walk outside is just the occasion.
Questions people ask about fire exit plan
Does a fire evacuation plan have to be written down?
The procedures must be established and people nominated to implement them, and where five or more people are employed the significant findings of the risk assessment must be recorded. In practice a written plan is how any of that is evidenced.
How often should fire drills be held?
No interval is set in law. Most workplaces hold them at least annually, more often where staff turnover is high or the building is complex, and the frequency is justified in the risk assessment.
What should a fire escape plan on the wall show?
The reader's location, the routes from there, the final exits and the assembly point, oriented the way the reader is standing. Simplicity matters more than completeness.