Hillcrest maintains policies pertaining to the use of interim life safety measures (ILSM) as part of Hillcrest Policies and Procedures. These include written criteria to evaluate deficiencies and construction hazards for determining when and to what extent one or more of the following measures are applicable:
1. Ensuring free and unobstructed exits. Staff receive additional training when alternative exits are designated. Buildings or areas under construction must maintain escape routes for construction workers at all times, and the means of exiting construction areas are inspected daily.

2. Ensuring free and unobstructed access to emergency services and for fire, police, and other emergency forces.

3. Ensuring that fire alarm, detection, and suppression systems are in good working order. A temporary but equivalent system is provided when any fire system is impaired. If used, temporary systems are inspected and tested monthly.

4. Ensuring that temporary construction partitions are smoke tight and built of noncombustible or limited combustible materials that will not contribute to the development or spread of fire.

5. As required by the Life Safety Code®, NFPA 101, 1997 edition, Hillcrest immediately notifies the local fire department of any alarm system power disruption. As detailed below, Hillcrest provides a fire watch, whenever a fire alarm or automatic sprinkler system is out of service in an occupied building.

6. Providing additional fire-fighting equipment and training staff in its use.

7. Prohibiting smoking at all HEC sites.

8. Developing and enforcing storage, housekeeping, and debris-removal practices that reduce the building’s flammable and combustible fire load to the lowest feasible level.

9. Conducting fire drills on a quarterly basis on each residential and overnight shift in the dorm buildings, and monthly on the academic shift in all areas used as classrooms.

10. Increasing hazard surveillance of buildings, grounds, and equipment, with special attention to excavations, construction areas, construction storage, and field offices.

11. Training staff to compensate for impaired structural or compartmentalization features of fire safety.

12. Conducting organization wide safety education programs to promote awareness of life safety building deficiencies, construction hazards, and ILSM.