Fire Message in Plain English

…..communications experts are rewriting ….. London Underground's fire instructions to staff 'in plain English', 15 months after ….. King's Cross fire in which 31 people lost their lives. This followed criticism that ….. size and wording of ….. fire emergency instructions had contributed to ….. difficulties in ….. staff - ….. Underground has 10,000 - getting ….. fire brigade quickly to ….. scene. Under ….. changes, words like 'if and 'but' are being jettisoned, along with ….. clauses and sub-clauses added over decades. 'We are giving ….. priority to rewriting in positive and easy-to-understand terms the. Underground's instructions on what to do in ….. case of ….. fire,' said ….. spokesman yesterday.

He said that among ….. examples of ….. unacceptable 'chatty and verbose' wording was rule D2. This says: 'If ….. fire or smouldering is small enough to be dealt with by ….. members of ….. staff, speed is of ….. utmost importance. If ….. member of ….. staff observes or is informed of ….. small fire or smouldering in or around ….. railway buildings, tracks, cables or other property (including tunnels and ….. sides of cuttings and embankments) he must take ….. immediate action to extinguish it. Most fires can be extinguished or kept in ….. check by ….. buckets of water and/or ….. hand pumps or beating with lengths of ….. hose.'

….. spokesman said that while ….. instructions included ….. words like 'must' and 'speed', ….. approach was long-winded and softened its impact by using ….. words 'if and 'smouldering'. These and similar regulations are - being replaced by ….. simply-worded instructions including:

‘ Fire or smoke in ….. stations - Tell ….. line controller where ….. fire is and ….. best way for ….. fire brigade to reach it.'

And: 'Station evacuation: Close ….. station to ….. incoming passengers.'

….. Cambridge communications firm has been commissioned for ….. project.

The Daily Telegraph (BrE)