Often called a fire drill or evacuation drill, a well-designed emergency exercise tests more than whether people can leave the building. ACTWELL plans, facilitates and reviews exercises for evacuations, lockdowns, shelter-in-place responses and other credible workplace scenarios, then gives you a written report your Emergency Planning Committee can act on.
An emergency plan only works if the people responsible for it can carry it out in practice. An emergency exercise is how you test whether your plan, your people and your procedures hold up when it matters.
Under AS 3745-2010, facilities should conduct at least one full building emergency evacuation exercise every 12 months.
Alongside the annual evacuation exercise, we also recommend testing the other scenarios in your plan, such as lockdowns and shelter-in-place responses.
AS 3745-2010 recommends occupants take part in an emergency evacuation exercise at least once every 12 months. Higher-risk sites or high staff turnover may justify more frequent exercises.
A fire drill usually means practising the evacuation. An emergency exercise is broader: it can test lockdowns, shelter-in-place and other scenarios from your emergency plan, and it assesses how your wardens, systems and occupants perform, not just whether the building empties.
Times from alarm to full evacuation, warden performance, communication effectiveness, assembly-area accountability, how people needing assistance were supported, and clear recommendations. That is what our written report covers after every exercise.
Yes. If your team runs the drill, we can attend as observers, assess it against your plan and facilitate the debrief.
We consult with your Emergency Planning Committee (EPC) or site manager to understand your plan, your Emergency Control Organisation (ECO) structure, and any specific areas you want to test.
We develop a realistic scenario based on the emergencies identified in your plan.
We run the exercise on-site and observe how your procedures hold up in practice, not just as a written document.
We observe communication, response times, warden performance, assembly procedures, and any confusion or gaps.
Immediately after the exercise, we conduct a debrief with your ECO and site management to discuss what worked and what needs attention.
An emergency exercise is a planned, facilitated event that simulates an emergency scenario at your facility. It activates your emergency response procedures and allows your team to practise their roles in a controlled environment.
Exercises are not limited to fire evacuations. Depending on your plan, they may include evacuations, lock-downs, shelter-in-place responses, or a combination of scenarios relevant to your site.
Any facility with an emergency plan should be testing it. This includes:
If you have an Emergency Planning Committee and an Emergency Control Organisation, exercises are how you test whether your planning and procedures work in practice, and whether amendments need to be made.
AS 3745-2010 states that occupants participate in a full building emergency evacuation exercise at least once every 12 months.
Your EPC may determine that more frequent or different types of exercises are appropriate based on the risk profile of your site, staff turnover, or findings from previous exercises.
Pricing depends on the size and complexity of your facility, the type of exercise, and whether additional scenario development or pre-exercise planning is required. Most exercises start from $1,950 plus GST. Request a booking and we’ll send a tailored quote for your site.
Final pricing is confirmed in writing before booking.
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