Emergencies are not planned events, and when they happen, they create disruption, and danger to life, property, or the environment. Where many people interface, involved in different activities, the risk of emergency is high. Therefore, it is imperative to plan for emergencies. Develop mitigation plans, train personnel, practice and evaluate the effectiveness of the developed safety measures. For this study, the case study method of qualitative research was adopted. The participants were drawn from the tactical level of leadership among the operators of the respective academic space. Interview guide, complemented with one-on-one interviews were used for data collection. The findings revealed that there was a shortfall in the quantity of exit facilities in all the academic space evaluated, a lcak of disaster mangement team, no training in safety management or the practice of emergency evacuation drill. Furthermore, the quality and functionality of the exit facilities were influenced by the age of the buildings. The buildings developed before 2015 were found to be deficient in the quality and functionality of the exit facilities compared to the ones developed after 2015. Therefore, this research recommended that a disaster managemnt team should be established, train personnel in safety management and conduct regular emergency evacuation drill. Simialarly, the Directorate of Physical Facilities, of the university should evaluate and make necessary upgrade in the existing exit facilities.

Keywords

Emergency, Evacuation drill, Exit facilities, Safety preparation, Signage