Campus Fire and Safety Policies
and Procedures–Virginia Campus

Safety Mission

The Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine strives to create an atmosphere of safety and comfort which allow faculty, staff and students to concentrate on their mission of providing academics and student services and on learning. The goal of the operations department is to oversee the campus facilities, to assist those in charge of each facility, in providing a safe and secure environment. The following policies and procedures outline each individual's role in maintaining a safe and secure environment for all.

Virginia Campus Access and Safety

The campus is available for student access during announced times. The use of the VCOM Passport ID badge is needed for early morning, evening, and weekend access during approved hours to enter the building.

In the event of an emergency, courtesy phones, which are located at the front entrance and throughout the building, may be used to contact “911.”

The Virginia Campus Safety Policies & Procedures consisting of “Virginia Campus Safety” and “Fire and Safety Procedures" can be found in the Human Resources section of the VCOM website, and must be reviewed by all faculty and students annually.

Crime Safety and Crime Log Information

For the most recent safety period for academic years, the on campus crime log documents can be seen by this link: “Crime Log VCOM Virginia Campus”. This page is updated annually. For the most recent events, you may check with the Associate Vice President of Operations, where the monthly log is housed.

All faculty, staff, and students should report any incidence of crime against a person or personal property to the operations department immediately. You may reach operations through 540-231-4056 or 540-231-4025. If you are unable to reach someone at these numbers, please contact the front desk for assistance at 540-231-4000.

VCOM does not provide a full-time safety officer. The front desk however is staffed during regular business hours, weekends, and evenings during hours of operation. If you need assistance please call the above numbers or report to the front desk. VCOM will contact security and safety that is provided in the Virginia Tech police and/or the local police.

Each year, VCOM participates in the reporting of significant crimes against persons and personal property. A crime log is kept in the operations department. You may view the log by contacting the Vice President of Operations. You may see the U.S.D.E. report on campus safety by visiting the American School Search Safety Reports at www.american-school-search.com/safety/edward-via-virginia-college-of-osteopathic-medicine.

For the past several years, VCOM has received an "A" rating with no significant crime problems.

Fire Safety

Students receive maps showing features of the building, which include exits and stairway locations. In the event the fire alarm sounds, students will proceed immediately to the nearest exit or stairwell leading to an exit to exit the building. Students should become familiar with the site-specific fire plans. Students will proceed at a walking (not running) pace and use caution to avoid injury to other persons while exiting.

Fire Log

A copy of the fire safety code is given to all new employees and new students annually. VCOM has instituted an annual fire drill to assure an understanding of the exit process from the building. The VCOM building has been inspected by the local fire marshal and is periodically reviewed. The above logs are kept at both the Virginia and Carolinas campuses in Operations.

Fire Safety Procedures

Reporting a Fire or Fire Hazard
Any person that notices a fire or other hazardous condition should do the following: If small and immediate extinguishing procedures can be safely performed by the observer, the faculty, staff, or student person should act immediately to extinguish to fire. Immediately upon extinguishing the fire a member of the Operations department should be notified immediately to inspect and assure the danger has been resolved OR should begin the evacuation drill. Specific fire safety evacuation plans are posted throughout the building and given to each faculty and staff person working within the building and to VCOM students. The evacuation plans are given for each building they might utilize. The PDFs of those plans are posted throughout each building and are found in the PDFs following the fire safety guidelines in this document.

If the person observing the fire determines that a fire or other material is causing immediate danger the employee, staff member, or student should sound the alarm and follow the evacuation plan to exit the building. In addition to the fire alarms, sprinklers and fire extinguishers exist throughout the building to help limit the spread of fire. Any faculty member, student, staff or administration who observes a fire hazard should notify the Officer of Facilities and Operations immediately.

Fire Alarm Information

Fire alarms can occur for many different reasons. It is important to evacuate a building during a fire alarm regardless of the cause. No one may re-enter the building after an alarm until the "all clear" has been sounded by the operations staff in charge or the emergency personnel.

The causes for a fire alarm to sound include an actual fire, an intentional pull or activation, an accident during cleaning, smoke or steam of any type and/or a defective detector.

Any student, faculty, or staff knowingly activating an alarm without a fire or like emergency will be subject to action by administration for unprofessional behavior. Fire alarms are present to help alert building occupants of an emergency, and false alarms contribute to apathy and complacency of residents placing them at risk in the future.

Evacuation of the Buildings

The fire safety plan is given to all new employees and all students during the first year orientation. On the safety plan is a design that designates the fire doors, the exit systems that should be used by building occupants stating the doors one should leave by according to where they are in the building. Evacuation plans exist for all VCOM buildings. Faculty, staff, and students should review the evacuation plans that are posted in the PDF versions at the bottom of this page. All stairwell doors are considered fire doors in the VCOM buildings. Depending on the building construction, some interior doors are also fire doors. These are also distributed annually.

According to State Fire Prevention Codes, all fire doors must remain closed at all times. When stairwell doors remain closed, they prevent smoke from entering the stairwell and provide a safe means of egress from the building. For this reason, propping fire doors open is not permitted.

VCOM Building Evacuation Plan Maps:

VCOM Main building Evacuation plan:
VCOM II building
Knollwood Building / Simulation and Technology Center evacuation plan:
- First Floor
- Second Floor
RBII Research Facility evacuation plan

Smoke Detectors and Sprinkler Systems

Smoke detectors are located in the main all VCOM buildings. Smoke alarms are important defenses against the spread of fire. VCOM has system smoke detectors that are tested semi-annually by a qualified fire alarm testing company.

Sprinkler systems located in the main VCOM building and VCOM II facilities in Virginia and the main campus building in the Carolinas Campus and are designed to assist in the containment and extinguishing of fires in those buildings. The above systems are tested annually by a fire alarm testing company according to applicable code requirements.

FIRE PREVENTION

General Safety Precautions to Prevent Fire Apply to All VCOM Buildings and Campuses
Interior and Exterior Areas:

VCOM does not allow burning of any kind without prior approval by operations. The use of bonfires, burning of brush or trash, or any other outside burning is strictly prohibited.
Occasional use of an approved barbecue grill or an approved outdoor fireplace may be given but must be cleared with operations to assure it meets the Fire and Safety Code. Hot ashes or smoldering coals from approved barbecue grills or outdoor fireplaces must be disposed of in non-combustible containers. In general no other open flames will be allowed. All grills or approved outdoor fireplaces must be a minimum of 30 feet from any building.
Open flame indoor or outdoor decorations are prohibited with the exception of outdoor candles. Outdoor candles may be used 20 feet from the building, and must be extinguished and disposed of properly in a non-combustible container. Indoor candles are prohibited.
Cigarettes, cigars, matches, lighters, and any other materials that may ignite a fire must be disposed of in a safe manner in a non-combustible container. As VCOM facilities are non-smoking facilities, all smoking within 30 feet of the building should be avoided. No smoking signs should not be removed. Faculty, staff, and students are expected to abide by VCOM no smoking policies.
Fuel containers under pressure are prohibited unless pre-approved and must not exceed 20 gallons when approved.
Accumulations of waste paper, straw, compacted cotton bales, litter, and/or overgrowth of vegetation is not permitted as this is considered a fire hazard.
Materials prone to spontaneous ignition must be stored in non-combustible containers.
Storage of combustible trash must not be kept and must be disposed of in a manner not to cause a hazard to the health, safety, and welfare of the public.
All containers over 5.88 cubic feet shall have a lid.
Dumpsters shall be kept at a distance of greater than 5 feet from any building.
In rare circumstances candles are approved for use as décor in the VCOM II event center. In such cases the candles must be in a safe container where there is not a danger of spread of hot wax or fire. Immediately after or before the event ends, all fire must be extinguished in a safe manner and all candles removed in a non-combustible container. Candles are prohibited in aisles, halls or doorways.
Caterers must use any Bunsen burner or other flames to heat foods in a responsible manner and according to the Fire Code. Any open flame used for these purposes must be observed at all times. The caterers are responsible to remove all such Bunsen burners from premises when leaving and must dispose of them in a safe and responsible manner.
Batteries, battery chargers, floor scrubbers or buffers, and any potentially flammable or igniting device must be stored properly and away from any combustible materials so not to cause a fire hazard. All such items must be disposed of properly according to Virginia fire code. Operations should be notified prior to the disposal of any such items on college property.
Any refueling or fuel containers must be kept a minimum of 30 feet from the building and should not occur without notification of operations.
Storage, handling, and arrangement of potentially combustible materials shall be kept in an orderly fashion and away from heaters, heating devices, or other potential igniting source.
Storage must not obstruct sprinkler systems and must be greater than 2 feet from ceiling height where sprinkler systems exist.
Toasters, fans, and portable space heaters are prohibited.
Coffee pots, microwaves, refrigerators are allowed only in pre-approved areas by operations. They must follow the recommended UL. Coffee pots must be unplugged daily and should not be left on throughout the day when not in active use.
Extension cords should not be used. Power bars may be used if they have surge protection. Wall units should not be overloaded.

VCOM follows all State and Local Fire and Safety Codes. The Operations department will make monthly unannounced walk-through inspections for potential fire hazards.

Decorations and Fire Safety

Interior Areas: To provide expectations for all types of decorations that are consistent with any and all applicable rules, regulations, and codes in order to reduce the potential for safety and fire hazards, inside and outside of the facilities. Decorating for personalization and to celebrate holidays and other events is wholeheartedly supported however must fall within these requirements.

Combustible materials may not be placed on the surface of entry doors, stairwells, or other exits Examples of combustible materials include, but are not limited to, paper of any kind, contact paper, and plastics.
The only exception to this is that a single memo or message board may be placed on a door facing a hallway.
Room numbers and name-signs should not be covered...
No materials of any kind may be hung from ceilings.
Only "cool" mini-lights are authorized for use in any of VCOM buildings. You must notify operations and demonstrate safe lighting prior to using any lights for decoration.
Flammable items such as fuel (propane, lamp oil, solvents, gasoline, etc.) may not be stored or used in any area of the buildings without prior notification of operations. The exception is RBII or other Research Facilities where such items may be used in the daily process of research. Operations will make periodic rounds to inspect such items to assure all safety precautions are being taken. Individual faculty and staff should notify operations of the existence of such items so safety measures can be taken.
Incense and candles are not allowed in the building.
Smoking is not permitted in any VCOM facility or on the Campus except in an individual’s car.
Posters, pictures, and any other type of decorations must not be placed around side-mounted sprinkler heads or smoke detectors.
Halogen lamps are no longer UL approved and are illegal to use anywhere.
Exit doors, hallways, stairwells, and other means of egress (exit) may not be obstructed in any way.
Combustible materials such as cotton batting, straw, dry vines, leaves, trees (cut or live), artificial flowers, shrubbery, and foam-type plastic materials shall not be used for decorative purposes in a quantity as to constitute a fire hazard.
No live or cut trees are permitted. Only artificial trees are permitted in the rooms and public areas where the tree may be placed so as not to block an exit or access to an exit.
Public area decorations may only be displayed for the time intervals noted below. All decorations must be disposed of, or stored, properly when not in use.
1. Birthdays or other such individual celebrations: 72 hrs. (3 days)
2. Christmas or Hanukah: The Monday after Thanksgiving until January 3rd.
3. Halloween: Two weeks before Halloween until the day after Halloween
4. Thanksgiving: The day after Halloween until the Monday after Thanksgiving break
5. July 1 to 5th only.
6. Other Holidays and religious events may be decorated with proper notification of operations.

Exterior Areas:

All exit doors and other means of egress shall not be obstructed.
All materials must be flame proof in an approved manner.
All lights or other electrical decorations must be rated for outdoor use and UL listed.
All extension cords must be rated for outdoor use and UL listed. No extension cords or other electrical cords may be run through doorways, windows, walls or above ceiling tiles. Only exterior outlet or approved power sources may be used.
Electronic access/ key card readers may not be obstructed.
Decorations/lights may not be strung or looped from window to window. Lights may be hung inside of the windows in accordance with the stated policy for use of "cool" mini-lights.
Public area decorations are subject to inspection by College Operations staff and will be removed if deemed unsafe.

Campus Building and Facilities Safety Surveys

In addition to the fire safety above, the Operations Department is in charge of Fire and Campus Safety.

Monthly Operations surveys of each campus include:

Surveying all buildings and premises walkways, floors, wall openings, skylights, floor openings, gratings, non-slip mats, platforms, manholes, floors, and roofs to be sure they are safe.
Assure all lighting is working and all emergency and explosions proof lighting systems are adequate.
Assure all stairs, elevators, and fire escapes are clean, in good repair, and handrails and guardrails are adequate and non-slippery.
Assuring all ladders and scaffolds are safe and appropriately stored.
Assure all ventilation is working satisfactorily. Assure all electrical wiring and equipment is functioning safely and appropriately.
Assure all heating and cooling equipment is working appropriately. All pressure vessels and piping are functioning appropriately.
Assure all elevators are inspected and functioning appropriately.
Assure all sanitation structures are functioning.
Assure all first aid supplies are adequate in each facility.

VCOM College Catalog

Campus Fire and Safety Policies and Procedures–Virginia Campus