Fire evacuation − know your PEEPS

Being prepared for an emergency situation is important for any organisation, as this will ensure everyone can be safely evacuated.

Additional measures need to be considered and implemented to accommodate those who have a temporary or permanent mobility-impairment and having such measures documented, in a PEEP or GEEP will ensure the safety of everyone.

Accessibility for everyone is essential for any business. The objective of an evacuation plan is to ensure that anyone with mobility impairments can be safely evacuated in an emergency. Gerard Wallace, Managing Director at Evac+Chair International, explains the legal backdrop and best practice.

What does the law say?
It is no longer the responsibility of the Fire Service to facilitate the evacuation of non-domestic premises, which is outlined in the Regulatory Form Order for Fire Safety 2005. It is the designated ‘responsible person’ (the person having control of the building, or a degree of control, like landlords and business owners) who must ensure that everyone is evacuated quickly and safely in an emergency.

Evacuation procedures should have designated and trained staff, to support those in need during the evacuation process. These employees must undertake practical training in the use and operation of any evacuation equipment that may need to be deployed during an evacuation.

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers have a duty to assess any risks that affect the health and safety of employees and put in place appropriate procedures to be followed ‘in the event of serious and imminent danger’.

Put simply, it is not enough to ensure that your building is accessible − you also have to ensure it can be exited safely by all building occupants in an emergency.

Importance of a PEEPS
To comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, as an employer it is your legal responsibility to ensure all staff and visitors in the workplace can evacuate safely in an emergency, this includes able bodied people as well as the mobility impaired. Failure to do so could result in a fine or, in the event of a fatality, the 'responsible person' could be prosecuted for corporate manslaughter.

A PEEP (Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan) is used for employees who require additional help when evacuating a building. It forms part of a legal requirement for an employer to provide a safe and effective means of escape for all persons, requiring assistance in the event of a lift being inoperative, a fire or other emergency. It should be completed in collaboration with the line manager and/or the human resources department and the individual.

Once a PEEP is complete, it is important to discuss any issues of concern relating to emergency evacuation with all key stakeholders, including the individual involved. A PEEP questionnaire will enable individuals who are specially trained in an emergency evacuation, to know what to do should the need arise.

Available to download today, Evac+Chair has created a PEEP guide to help ensure businesses nationwide have access to emergency procedure plans in case of a safety breach including, fire, smoke hazards or even acts of terrorism.

Gerard Wallace, managing director at Evac+Chair International, says: “Evac+Chair understands the importance of emergency situations and fire assessments.

“It is essential that businesses have emergency evacuation plans in place alongside selected team members who have been trained to use vital emergency evacuation equipment, such as evacuation chairs, to aid the mobility-impaired.”

The PEEP guide is available to download from the Evac+Chair website:
www.evacchair.co.uk/news/peep-guide

Using the necessary equipment to evacuate buildings safely
When installing evacuation equipment, such as Evac+Chairs, it is vital the requirements of the building and its personnel are considered. Under the Equality Act 2010, a ‘disabled person’ is defined as someone with a physical or mental impairment which has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ effect on their ability to do normal daily activities such as descending stairs unaided. There are also times when individuals have temporary mobility impairments, such as a sporting injury or pregnancy. A mobility impairment will affect an individuals ability to evacuate themselves and therefore the 'responsible person' must provide a safe and quick means of escape for them.

Evacuation chairs have proven to be most efficient and user-friendly, enabling the operator and passenger to safely exit the building. Due to the possibility of more than one person needing assistance, other types of evacuation products may be required such as slide sheets, rescue mats, evacuation chairs or stretchers. All evacuation aids need to be in a designated refuge point which is specified in the buildings’ fire strategy. Each fire exit has to accommodate the able-bodied and mobility-impaired therefore all equipment has to be readily available and accessible at the refuge point.

Evac+Chairs offer a simple and effective solution to ensure a safe exit from work for an increasingly diverse workforce. Even though many assume that their office’s fire alarm is unlikely to ever go off − unless it is an evacuation drill. Therefore, it is essential that these precautions are taken into account when installing safety escape routes in the workplace for those who are disabled.

Safe evacuation isn’t just the purchase of an evacuation chair. Evac+Chair offer UK Nationwide coverage for customer support, training and maintenance, providing complete peace of mind. Evac+Chair offer FREE evacuation assessments and recommend that you have one of these prior to the purchase of an evacuation chair.

Contact a member of the team for more information or to book a FREE evacuation assessment. Telephone: +44 (0)121 706 6744 | Email: enquiries@evacchair.co.uk | Website: evacchair.co.uk

Who is getting this right? Case study − City of Bristol College
City of Bristol College has completely overhauled its fire and health & safety systems, after reviewing evacuation procedures with Evac+Chair.
Stephen Brough initiated the review after joining the multi-site college as Health, Safety and Well-being Manager in 2017. The site is used by around 20,000 students and 1,000 staff and has a mix of buildings, some Victorian and some from the 1990s that range from two to six storeys.

“I was new to the college and the issue of evacuation was raised by staff in learner support teams who had concerns about getting students with learning and physical disabilities safely out of buildings in the event of an emergency,” explained Stephen.

“The first thing I did was go on a fire risk assessment course. One of the big misconceptions around evacuation is that it is the fire brigade’s job to get everyone safely out of the building, it isn’t. It is the responsibility of staff, the landlord or the manager. The fire service’s only job is to deal with the fire and to stop it spreading.

“Therefore, I knew that the issue I had to tackle was getting people safely out of the buildings. I wasn’t sure what I needed to do but there had been Evac+Chairs installed in the buildings I had previously worked in.

“As Evac+Chair provides free site surveys, I called them to see how they could help. The survey was really useful. They don’t just give you free advice on how to manage evacuations, they give advice about safe refuges and policies and procedures as well.

“Thanks to the advice we got from Evac+Chair, we have produced a brand-new set of policies and procedures for staff and for students.”

The college now has 28 Evac+Chairs installed and is planning to buy more. It is also scheduling ‘train the trainer’ sessions on site with Evac+Chair to train up assisted learning support staff, student services staff and all management teams that are involved in evacuation.

Safe evacuation, plus learning about the chairs and safe refuges and where they are located, is now part of the college’s student induction.

“The Evac+Chairs are actually a really clever bit of kit and they go down stairs easily, but the training is about so much more. It is important that people know where they are located and feel confident to use them in an emergency and know how to keep people calm when they are in use,” explains Stephen.

“We are doing a train the trainer course so that we can repeat the training with a refresher course every six months and make sure that any new staff and students are familiar with evacuation chairs, what it feels like to sit in and use them, and the role they play in an emergency.

“Evac+Chair has been absolutely fantastic. They have been back two or three times to make sure that we have everything we need.

“I highly recommend it to others. It’s not just a question of buying an evacuation chair, you are buying the safety knowledge that comes from their expertise as well. Evac+Chair know a lot about fire safety and fire prevention.”