SubscribeThe implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) has created headaches for employers attempting to meet the legislation as far as access is concerned, but the ‘Achilles heel’ for most will be the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (R.R.O).
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (R.R.O), places a general duty so far as is reasonably practical on employers to ensure
- The safety of employees
- That premises are safe
- That a risk assessment is carried out
The R.R.O. not only affects offices, shops and factories but extends to Educational Establishments, Hotels, Care Homes, Assembly Places, Theatres and Cinemas, Healthcare Establishments and Open Air events. A major part of this risk assessment shall include the management of fire safety re:
- Training and Drills
- Testing and Maintenance
- Records and Procedures
Most multi-storey buildings provide easy access for wheelchair users, yet we are all too aware of signs warning people not to use lifts in the event of a fire. Stairway descent can be impossible, not just for the non-ambulatory, but also for other less visible conditions.
Evacuation chairs, such as the Evac+Chair can provide the safe evacuation from a building of a mobility impaired occupant, allowing the Fire Service to do what they do best: fight fires. The Evac+Chair, an evacuation mobility device designed for the physically disabled enables a single able-bodied person to evacuate a physically disabled person in an emergency and offers a fast and efficient escape without hindering other stairway users.
The strategic placing of evacuation chairs throughout the building, together with required emergency drills, meets legislation by providing adequate means of escape for all, whilst protecting against injury. It also meets the duty of care in risk assessments in any building more than a single storey.
Who is at risk? When determining your risk, the first thing to realise is that every organisation and every building and stadium will have different requirements and pose different challenges. For example, are particular people in your building at risk? Wheelchair users and the disabled are an obvious source of concern in an emergency situation or when you are planning an evacuation. The Disability Discrimination Act 2004 has had a clear impact on employers, judging by sales of the Evac+Chair since the Act came into force.
Whereas previously sales had predominantly been to the public sector, demand is now higher in the private sector, particularly in retail, as employers have begun to recognise and respond to the requirements placed upon them by health and safety and disability legislation. The number of employees who find stairs a source of difficulty in an emergency may be much higher than you think.
Many people can find building evacuation a real challenge: those with sports injuries, deafness, blindness, angina, rheumatism, arthritis, asthma... The list goes on and on. And with the changes in the age discrimination laws expected next year, we will see an increasingly elderly workforce.
There are 25 million people at work in the UK - so 2.5 million are at risk at any one time. Nor is it just employees who need to be accounted for. Visitors, contractors and temporary employees will all expect you to provide a safe method of evacuation. For public buildings, of course, this is an even more pressing and demanding issue: while commercial buildings tend to close at 5pm or shortly thereafter, cinemas, theatres, sports centres, police stations, hospitals and nursing homes can be open up to 24 hours a day.
Risk assessments In order to determine exactly what challenges and problems you face - and how these difficulties can be solved - it is essential that you carry out a risk assessment. While many employers have made provision to allow access to upper floors and toilets, far fewer have considered the implications of fire precautions and building evacuation when, for example, lifts may not be accessible.
Instead of simply focusing on employees with mobility difficulties, a good start is to identify the high-risk areas in your building. In essence, any building which has stairs needs to consider the risks and difficulties which employees face in an emergency.
Remember too that any problems you identify do not lie with the individuals who require assistance to make a safe escape, but actually lie with the building. A scenario which can cause some real conflicts of interest are shared occupancy buildings. All too often, the building manager will claim that the tenant on level 7 has the responsibility for providing health and safety for his employers; while the level 7 tenant makes the same claim of the building manager. Both parties are liable, however, and it is important that they both communicate in order to provide a duty of care to the employees working in their building.
Adding value The Evac+Chair is designed to allow an adequate means of escape for all visitors and staff during an emergency situation. Operated by just a single able-bodied individual, the chair enables anyone with restricted movement to be moved down stairs and out of the building in a fast and efficient manner. But the Evac+Chair is not just a safety product which an employer can buy to show compliance.
It is both a tool for employees and a service. One aspect of this service is the annual maintenance contract, known as Servicare, provided by Evac+Chair International, which helps to remove some of the administrative burden from employers. The company will diarise your maintenance requirements and visit your offices once a year to give your chair a complete and thorough service, and currently services over 6,000 chairs a year.
However, the product will only fulfil its potential if employees know how to use the chair correctly and safely, and feel confident in their ability to do so. In order to address this issue, Evac+Chair International offers certificated competency training, confirming that individuals are capable of using the chair in an emergency situation.
This basic level training qualifies the employee to be known as a 'dedicated escort', and involves two hours of hands-on training in the practicalities of using the Evac+Chair. Employees can be trained and assessed in groups of up to four people (at a cost of £300 for a group of four), and those who successfully complete the course receive a certificate proving their competency with the chairs.
Evac+Chair International Ltd assist organisations by providing essential key trainer courses and annual service contracts to support its award winning stairway evacuation devices.
For more information contact:
Evac+Chair International Ltd
+44 (0)121-706-6744
info@evacchair.co.uk
