Posted By Jimmy R Could someone please remind me of what the dimensions should be for a Disabled Refuge area, inside a fire stairwell, relating to fire safety. I have a dimension in mind but need to double check. Many thanks

Posted By Bob Youel Note that the below is basic info-get more guidance Be careful with set dimensions as the DDA applies and some modern motor powered wheel chairs etc are quite large & note that the dimensions are set by the risk assessment based on who ever is likely to be there! I have personal experience where the building regs sizes were used and afterwards the access/egress space had to be altered as the user could not get in the area of safety - the Building regs should be looked at along side the DDA regs etc

Posted By Jimmy R Yes, our intention would be to ask the person to wait in the refuge area until the fire wardens clearing that particular zone caught up and helped the person out of the building.

Posted By Bob Shillabeer Read this posting in work today and thought about it most of the afternoon. Now I think I can respond. The evacuation drill is the means to get everyone organsed to enabler an orderly evacuation of the premises to prevent injury from the fire. So far so good. But where you also have someone with a disability that means they are unable to make a normal escape without assistance then a temporay means of protecting them from the fire is needed in order to affect a controlled escape for the disabled person. A good example is a building with 200 people working in it when the alarm sounds they act corectly and leave the building via the emergency escape route, no problem they are all clear. But think if there was a disabled person getting that person out by whatever means could obstruct the other people from escape, result people get hurt or possibly killed and they can make the escape of the disbled person even harder to do. Answer, leave the disbale people until later, when the escape route is less busy and the handling of the disabled person much easier. Protection areas must meet the requirements to provide suitable and adequate protection not just for the disabled person but those who assist in thier escape. Refuges are designed to provide aditional time against a fire thereby allowing for a controlled evacuation before the person concerned is injured. The fire bigade will always encure that were there is a risk of injury or death is an issue they will always protect the person first. They may decide to let the person stay if there is no risk of injury and concentrate on the fire. As a safety professional the safety of the individual is always paramount but the advise of the fire professional is generally more reliable because they deal with these cases all to often and have the experience to make a judgement on the case.