The Civil Defense Department in Makkah recently held a meeting to draw a number of strategies to ensure safety in all private and government schools. Col. Jameel Arbaeen, director of Makkah Civil Defense, Hamid Al-Salami, head of Makkah Directorate of Education, Hisham Al-Zaydi, a safety engineer, and other specialists convened at the meet. The recommendations directed school administrators to rehearse a fire drill and evacuation plan three times each school semester, as the policy of practicing the fire drill once a year is insufficient. Also, schools should not accept students that exceed the capacity of the school facilities. Ideally the school should be moderately populated, approximately 3 sq.m. to each student. The exits should be easily identified, accessible and wide enough to allow the unrestricted flow of a large number of students within minutes. “On our part, the Civil Defense Department will prepare a schedule of inspection visits from our fire safety inspectors to the various schools all year round. All private and government schools must be inspected, in addition to the charity funded schools and the schools established for specific expatriate communities to make sure that they all meet the fire safety requirements,” said Arbaeen. The Civil Defense Department will also support and encourage fire safety awareness campaigns and workshops in schools, colleges, the workplace, and public places to protect society from catastrophes as a result of fires. According to Arbaeen, planting the seed of fire safety awareness in the younger generations plays a major role in promoting fire safety in the home, in the school, and in the society at large.
