Posted By holmezy David, whatever you do or intend to do, using the goods lift is definately not the answer! Goods lift is for goods only not people. By all means use it to transport the wheelchair but dont put the person in with it......oh and dont tell your insurance company that you have been doing it. Holmezy

Posted By Stuart Hamilton David, It is not a question of whether the staff can get the wheelchair(and person)up the stairs. Can you get them out in the event of a fire? Looking at it simplistically, the organisation should aim to make the required services available to all with mobility difficulties, but from the ground floor, unless there is a system for safe evacuation. If you are able to gain advanced knowledge of the arrival of such building users and have the trained staff available to deal with an evacuation during their stay, then emergency evacuation from floors above or below the ground floor may not be a problem In my mind the safest route is making services available on ground floor, have meetings on ground floor. That would be reasonable adjustment!

Posted By holmezy David, Without seeing your facility, its difficult to envisage the real situation. However, most, if not all, goods lifts only have controls outside of the lift, ie no stop, open door, floor selection buttons inside the lift. They are also not a very pleasant environment, no lighting, dustiy, etc. Perhaps you could build an argument around that, or at least tag it on to the fact that goods lifts are for goods, not people, regardless of how often you inspect them. I do agree that it is reasonable to provide the same facilities on the ground floor, then there's no requirement to go higher. And the evacuation issue is also very important since advice is not to use lifts in case of fire etc..Have you got a nominated carer for the chair user, if not, everyone may scarper and adopt the "look after number one" attitude, which is the first reaction in any panic situation. Sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick previously.... Holmezy

Posted By Ken Taylor From the information supplied, the proposal seems reasonable provided that either (a) the lift can be converted for passenger use and an evacuation plan can be made for the wheelchair user including assistance by appointed and trained persons; or (b) the lift can be converted to an evacuation lift for control by management in the event of fire.

Posted By Ali You would probably need to modify the goods lift to carry persons, examine it thoroughly every 6 months and purchase an evac chair for each of the 2 upper floors to assist the person in the event of emergency evacuation. Also, you would need to train staff in the use of the evac chair and nominate such persons. Prior to this it would be prudent to consult first with your Insurance Co. as it could be a costly exercise.

Posted By andymak Dependant on the kind of goods lift depends if access to the upper areas by this method is ok or not. If it is one of the old fashioned goods only lifts then it will need converting which is expensive and so may not be reasonable. If this is the case then the person should not be using the lift. However if it is a newer type with controls inside the car but is termed a goods lift due to size and primary use then I don't foresee a problem with access. The main problem I see here is with emergency egress. If there were an evacuation situation how would the person evacuate without using the lift? Are evacuation chairs or wheelchair carrying evacuation devices available for this individual to be evacuated safely from the upper areas? Have the people helping the individual been trained in evacuation techniques to assist if the need arises?