The alarm goes off. The familiar voice comes out of the public address system: leave the building immediately, don’t use the lifts. A collective sigh resounds through the corridors, because it must be another fire drill. The law requires us to hold one at least once a year, so we’ve already had a lot of them. It’s a bit like Aesop’s fable, ‘The boy who cried wolf’. The boy was supposed to warn people if he saw a wolf but he raised a false alarm three times just for a joke. Then when the wolf really came, no one believed him – and that didn’t end well.
One evacuation that is etched in my memory took place when I was teaching in the Forum. The alarm went off and the whole group had to go down narrow staircases from the seventh floor.
I’d rather surreptitiously stay behind. But the safety officer is adamant
And 15 minutes later, back up the same stairs, because all the lifts were full of course. Nothing came of that class, and you never catch up on lost time like that.
Most of us cooperate dutifully but a few linger in their rooms. Do they struggle to drop everything and go, or do they struggle with obeying orders? I’m the worst of the lot. It’s just going so well, and I’d rather surreptitiously stay behind. But a safety officer who is checking all the rooms is adamant. I’ve got to go. I shove my laptop into my bag and take it with me, against the instructions.
Once I’m downstairs I stand shivering outside with everyone else, wondering how long this is going to take. Do I dare get my bike from the basement and cycle home to carry on working there? When I make a move in that direction, I’m stopped straightaway – and rightly so, of course.
The health and safety team that organizes the drill is made up largely of support staff – they are now in charge of us, and that includes professors and me. This time it turned out to be for real. It wasn’t too serious in the end, but it could have been. So how important was my work actually? When it comes down to it, stubborn scientists are not much use.
Sjoukje Osinga (56) is an assistant professor of Information Technology. She sings alto in the Wageningen chamber choir Musica Vocale, has three student sons and enjoys birdwatching with her husband in the Binnenveldse Hooilanden.
