COVER STORY
PROVIDING SAFE EXIT WITH EVAC+CHAIR
Shifting demographics and social awareness of issues such as disability. Gerard Wallace, Managing Director of Evac+Chair looks at the changing workforce profile and the key issue of ensuring safety for everyone in the event of a building’s evacuation.
Increased life expectancy and financial pressures are shifting the age profile of today’s workforce. Published in December 2016, the British Social Attitudes Survey for 2015 states that while nearly two-thirds of employees still expect to retire in their 60s, 17% expect to be in their 70s before they stop work. In fact, according to a report in The Economist, between 1995 and 2015, the number of working people aged over 65 more than doubled, to over one million and it is estimated that by 2020, one-third of the workforce will be over 50.
A major contributory factor behind these figures is Government policy, which is keeping more people in work. Since 2006, it has been possible to continue working while drawing a state pension and the age at which that pension can be drawn is due to rise to 66 by 2020 and 67 by 2028 with many expecting this to be nudged to 70.
Many people want to carry on working and most, for financial reasons, need to, so companies are now actively courting older workers. Older workers are often
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praised for their reliability, experience and loyalty and for the ‘soft skills’ in areas such as customer services.
UNPRECEDENTED NUMBERS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
IN WORK While we can expect a growth in the desire for paid employment among the upper age group, more people with physical impairments are now seeking employment opportunities. This is driven by the government encouraging both employers and employees to find roles where disabilities may no longer be a barrier to earning.
There are nearly seven million people with disabilities of working age in the UK. Government figures have reported a steady rise in the numbers employed. In 2016, the UK employment rate among those with permanent disability and of working age was 46.5% ie 4.1 million.
According to the Papworth Trust, only 17% of people with disabilities were born with their impairment - the majority acquiring their disability during
their working lives. It is estimated that five out of six people retain their job after their first year.
For people with disabilities and, to a greater or lesser degree, older workers, accessibility to the workplace is a key issue. When considering this, we tend to think in terms of ensuring that people can get into and move safely around the workplace.
Building design is adapted to incorporate ramp access, wider doorways for wheelchair access and passenger lifts – all of which provide valid solutions for accessibility. They don’t necessarily, however, look at how people can get out of a building in an emergency.
KEEPING EVERYONE SAFE Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers also have a duty to assess workplace risks to the health and safety of employees and put in place appropriate procedures to be followed ‘in the event of serious and imminent danger’.
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