Safety Week gave students a chance to practise skills they may need in a real emergency
Based on the exercises, students and staff generally know how to evacuate buildings safely. However, the exercises also showed that not everyone is sufficiently familiar with evacuation routes, designated assembly points or the locations of safety equipment. There were also situations where people remained in the immediate vicinity of a building after evacuating.
Those who took part in the fire extinguishing and first aid training during Safety Week found the exercises useful. Many had the opportunity to practise skills they may need in a real emergency for the first time.
Feedback from new students in particular highlighted the importance of including safety as part of the introduction to university life. Students felt that it would be useful to go through safety instructions and emergency response procedures as part of orientation. More attention will also be paid in future to accessibility and to supporting people with reduced mobility in emergency situations.
Safety Week observations help improve safety
The lessons learned from Safety Week will be used to develop future exercises, safety guidance and communications. The aim is to ensure that everyone in the university community knows how to act in an emergency and is prepared to help others when needed.
Safety is not only the responsibility of the authorities or University staff. Every student can contribute to a safer campus by following instructions, guiding others and paying attention to people who may need assistance during an evacuation. In an emergency, the most important things are to follow the instructions given, evacuate safely and proceed to the building’s designated assembly point.
Next time you are on campus, take a moment to familiarise yourself with the safety arrangements in your study environment. Find out where your nearest evacuation route and your building’s designated assembly point are, as well as the locations of first aid and fire extinguishing equipment.
Safety is a skill worth practising in advance. That way, we know how to act when it matters most.
University safety team:
Teemu Keränen (Safety and Security Manager)
teemu.v.keranen@jyu.fi
Mikko Malm (Security Specialist)
mikko.a.malm@jyu.fi
