2024 27 / 05 / 2024 Audronė Tamašaitė, Occupational Safety and Health (DSS) specialist at Virginijus ir Ko, UAB, organised a fire safety evacuation drill at the Šiauliai branch. The exercise involved 35 employees and tested the operation of the alarms and the evacuation preparedness of employees. It looked for possible mistakes to avoid during a real evacuation.

The exercise consisted of two parts. In the first part of the exercise, when the fire alarm went off, all staff assembled in an area marked with an evacuation sign “Assembly Point”. The exercise went smoothly, with some staff demonstrating good coordination and emergency response skills, and others being given additional information to address the likelihood of future mistakes. In the second part of the fire safety drill, the staff had the opportunity to test the operation of a powder extinguisher, which is suitable for extinguishing most types of fires.

“These preventive measures have shown that there is a great need for such surprise exercises for staff. In order to ensure greater safety of UAB Virginijus ir Ko and to prepare the company for possible fire threats, it is planned to organise fire safety drills more frequently not only in the Šiauliai branch, but also in other branches of the company in Klaipėda and Telšiai”, – said DSS specialist Audronė Tamašaitė.

Adequate fire safety training is essential to prevent accidents in waste management companies, and periodic updating of knowledge and response to potential hazards reduces these risks.