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Posted By tomahawk
We have recently bought an Evacu Chair to get a guy out of our 17 storey building. We've trained loads of guys to use it and we thought everything was hunky dory. Not so !! The guy (who is temporarily disabled due to a knee problem) refuses to use it as he will have to bend his knee to sit in the chair). There are already some disciplinary issues looming anyway so I guess they are clouding the issue. But does anyone know of a way of getting a disabled person out of a multi-story office that does not involve a chair please ?
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Posted By Richard Mathews
How is he getting around with this knee problem at present?
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Posted By tomahawk
He is off work long term sick and we are looking at what we need to do to get him back to work.
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Posted By David-J-Jones
Evac chairs are to remove a person in the event of a life threatening situation.
In the event of drills agree that he can be "lost" however short term discomfort against lose of life has to be weighed up- ask the rep to visit again and help evaluate suitability.
Ask the individual is it he canot bend his leg or is it uncomfortable to bend. Can they be relocated to an alternative location?
Utalise your occupational health for opinion on mobility.
You may be left with a difficult decision if all other options have been explored so keep strict records
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Posted By tomahawk
Thanks David. The Managing Agent for the building are not keen on exempting anyone from fire drills. It is not possible to employ this guy on a different floor as they belong to different companies. I will check the Occ Health route though thanks. One of my colleagues thinks that there is a precedent for disabled people not having to use an evacu-chair for drills - only for life threatening situations. Anyone have a comment ?
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Posted By jackw.
Hi, for drills you could locate the person in a safe zone/refuge area. For example in the area of the emergency stairs. this will normally be behind at least one set of fire doors or possible 2 as is the case in my office block. But as others have said a medical check/opinion as to why he can't bend his leg?..how will he get around the office/ will he be sitting at a desk? how will he do that without bending his leg.. there may well be other issues here. Think maybe he is "trying it on a bit"
Hope this helps.
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Posted By R M Diss
Re the evac chair, we had a similar situation in a previous company I worked in. A female member of staff was disabled through Polio as a child & could not bend one of her legs much. The evac chair has a 'deck chair' type seat which she had difficulty sitting in, we ended up buying an attachment seat which was basically a flat padded board for the evac chair which clipped onto the existing frame. She was then happy to use the chair.
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Posted By shaun mckeever
Use the lift.
If it is a seventeen storey building then it must have a firefighting lift. Firefighting lifts can be used as part of the evacuation strategy for disabled occupants. See BS 5588 part 8. There must be suitable management procedures in place. I assumethe building must have a facilities management team. They normally will know the procedure for using firefighting lifts.
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Posted By Tabs
Tell the managing agent that with respect, the rehabilitation process is actually more important to the individual and the company, than the participation of an individual in a drill this time.
There is a point at which you (they) should be getting on with other things and realising that the guy has probably evacuated a building before and would do again if really necessary.
No-one need get hung-up on a 100% participation in a drill, as nice as it is to achieve.
Forcing him to participate and perhaps risk complicating or extending the injury is not worth the risk.
The fire lift is the other option as mentioned it is one of the main functions of it -not just to allow the building Security Manager to pop up and down watching people :-)
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Posted By GT
Tomahawk,
How does he use the toilet for a No2 at the moment? Does he have a straight leg / one cheek version or does he bend his knees.
Just a silly thought?
GT
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Posted By Stephen D. Clarke We have had accidents with evac chairs and wheelchair users won't use them. An alternative that we are exploring is the stairmate a caterpillar device that fits to the wheelchair and allows it to be easily taken down stairs. Cost is about £5000 see previous thread. http://www.iosh.co.uk/in...m=1&thread=29508&page=41
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Posted By tomahawk
What sort of accidents have you had with evacu chairs ?
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Posted By Brigham
On this occasion and within the confines of the DDA, it may be more prudent to look for the reasons for not allowing him/her back to work on the 17th floor, than looking for ways of accommodating a return to work. Any other disciplinary actions pending should not cloud a reasoned recommendation based purely on the grounds of safety.
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