Fire safety plan

Your day care centre's fire safety plan is an official document that sets out directions and outlines staff responsibilities in case the premises must be evacuated in an emergency. 

What should we do when we hear the smoke alarm? How do we evacuate all the children? Where do we take them? Should we have fire drills? The fire safety plan provides specific answers to these and other questions.

Legislation

Municipal fire prevention by-laws and provincial legislation concerning safety and public buildings require day care centre managers to have evacuation procedures in case of an emergency. 

Training employees

If day care centre employees are responsible for evacuating children in an emergency, they must be trained properly. Actions and behaviour expected of them must be explicitly identified in the fire safety plan.

Teaching safety to children

A number of safe behaviours and reflexes can be taught to children, especially older children, in a fun and educational way. 

There are a number of documents in the Kids section of this site and on the Sécurité publique du Québec Web site for this purpose.  

List of items to inspect daily

• On the fire alarm panel, only the green light should be illuminated.
• Manual fire alarm switches must be visible and free of any type of obstruction. 
• Portable fire extinguishers are securely attached to their holders, in good working condition and manometers indicate that they are fully loaded. 
• Cooking appliances are at a proper distance from combustible materials. 
• Venting hoods are working properly and free of accumulated grease. 
• The portable fire extinguisher in the kitchen is in place and working properly.
• All means of evacuation (exit doors, indoor/outdoor stairways, hallways, etc.) are free of any form of obstruction.
• All means of evacuation are unlocked when the premises are occupied.
• All EXIT signs are illuminated and working properly.
• There is a safe amount of decorative material in the day care centre.