EMERGENCY EVACUATIONS | SWALLOW EMP
ONE SIZE FITS ALL – OR DOES IT?
Consider fairly the means of escape for disabled people as one size doesn’t fit all. Swallow EMP – solution providers for Evacuation Chairs and Stair Climbers - give you a choice to offer people who attend or visit your sites the means to safely evacuate your buildings in an emergency or lift breakdown by having the correct equipment.
When looking at your company’s evacuation and accessibility it is important to tackle the two as a pair. Our powered products enable access and egress on a daily basis as well as in an emergency situation. SwallowEMP have the largest range to cover different stairs, landings and people’s needs.
Building regulations recognise the need to have buildings that are accessible and user-friendly to all who may use them, including disabled people, as does The Equality Act which states that there should be easy access to buildings for disabled people within reason.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO) also makes employers take account of the evacuation plans of everyone in a building, including disabled people and therefore is something that shouldn’t be glossed over.
In 2007, the Government produced supplementary guidance called ‘Means of Escape for Disabled People’ to help employers tackle this topic.
The Fire and Rescue Service’s role in fire evacuation
is that of ensuring the means of escape in case of fire. Under current fire safety legislation however it is the responsibility of the person(s) in charge of the building to provide a fire safety risk assessment that includes an emergency evacuation plan for all people likely to be in the premises, including disabled people, and how that plan will be implemented.
Such an evacuation plan should not rely upon the intervention of the Fire and Rescue Service to make it work. In the case of multi-occupancy buildings, responsibility may rest with a number of persons for each occupying organisation and with the owners of the building. It is important that they co-operate and co- ordinate evacuation plans with each other. This could present a particular problem in multi-occupancy buildings when the different escape plans and strategies need to be co-ordinated from a central point.
Where an employer or a service provider does not make provision for the safe evacuation of disabled people from its premises, this may be viewed as discrimination. It may also constitute a failure to comply with the requirements of the fire safety legislation mentioned above.
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There are many manufacturers of ‘friction belt’ evacuation chairs, however they often don’t take into account the needs of disabled people with mobility issues.
If there aren’t any disabled people in your firm then these types of manual fire evacuation models are fine but if you have disabled people working or visiting the site then you need to cater for their needs first. Those in wheelchairs should remain in their wheelchairs.
SwallowEMP offer a range of products so clients can choose the most suitable one for the individual. If fitting out a tall building then you should have powered units as people could become fatigued and you may have to have teams of people taking manpower that could be utilised elsewhere.
Previously Swallow EMP have been called in to resolve issues for a client where the occupant is too heavy for one person operation. In this situation the ’friction belt chair’ was being used and there were eight floors to navigate – as a result they had to have teams to take over. After purchasing a powered unit the operation was reduced to one person which helped both the occupant and the operator avoid injury.
Info@swallowemp.com www.swallowemp.com
TOMORROW’S HEALTH & SAFETY YEARBOOK 2016/17
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