I am reviewing our fire arrangements and have noticed that there is no provision for less able persons. We have an employee who fits under this description, she has a stroller type wheeled frame that she uses for getting about the office and there is a purpose built lift for her use (we have a ground and 1st floor, she works on the 1st floor). At the moment the employee is left on the stair well during drills, a situation I am not very happy with. As the lift is fitted and designed for her use, is not within a shaft and only enclosed at the point of entry on the ground floor, I feel that the best option would be to let her evacuate in this manner. I don't like the idea of evacuation chairs as I think they may hinder others escape and are uncomfortable for the person in question as she has major twisting/deformities of the spine. What do others think?

Hi Linda, Without stating the obvious... consider if it's reasonably practicable for the employee to be sited on the ground floor? Of course the above posters still apply!

From your description this is a wheelchair platform that does not penetrate any fire compartmentation. I seem to remember that these self lower when activated even without power supply. It could thus be reasonably argued that enabling her to access the ground floor by this method is far preferable to leaving her on an upper floor. You will however need to fully justify why she has to be on the first floor. Bob

Equality Act now. There is no set definition of "disabled" as it covers all variations, however the Act has a set list for discrimination purposes.

From your description of that lift, it sounds like you have no compartmentation between the ground and first floor, which may be a separate can of worms for the workplace? Before you go further, you need to know the spec. for that lift. It may have an emergency descent facility, hydraulic or otherwise.

I am not a great lover of the stick her on the ground floor as a control measure, I find that this can be seen as discriminatory. I don't know how long the person has worked on the first floor but this maybe the place she is most comforable. Carryout a full PEEP and risk assess all aspects of assisting in the evacuation, include the person and her manager, if you cannot see any other viable way then moving her to the ground floor maybe the only option left.

Linda, I,m not sure where the term less able has come from From the Direct gov web site the definition of ‘disability’ under the Equality Act 2010 In the Act, a person has a disability if: •they have a physical or mental impairment •the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to perform normal day-to-day activities For the purposes of the Act, these words have the following meanings: •'substantial' means more than minor or trivial •'long-term' means that the effect of the impairment has lasted or is likely to last for at least twelve months (there are special rules covering recurring or fluctuating conditions) •'normal day-to-day activities' include everyday things like eating, washing, walking and going shopping In this case, from the information you have posted, your colleague has a disability under the Equality Act

Linda G - In connection with your evidently sensible proposals, I wonder if anyone can advise whether or not wheelchair lifts of the sort involved tend to incorporate a hydraulic system. If they do, there's a good chance that they can be operated for one journey downwards if the power supply is interrupted. Also, irrespective of whether anyone else can offer such advice, please would you consider letting the rest of us know in due course what transpires regarding the situation you describe? It could be useful to other forum users who are faced with similar situations. One reason for my pondering above is that during the early 1990s a lift was installed inside the stairwell of one of my employer's old Edwardian buildings. I was told that its rising/lowering system comprised a hydraulic ram instead of a counterbalanced wire rope system as used for most lifts. Therefore, in the event of a power failure, it could still be used for one descent. Also, the lift doors were mechanically interlocked so would still function correctly and safely without the need for electrical power. Hopefully this point will increase awareness about the existence of such lifts and be of use to other forum users when assessing premises or advising about adaptations and proposed lift installations.

Hi Linda I have been going through evacuation of disabled people recently too and have found a Scottish guidance d http://www.firelawscotla...6a2d.html?pContentID=245 and NI guidance to be quite useful http://www.dhsspsni.gov....p;ha=dhssps-cms&mt=1 Potential use of an ordinary lift for fire evacuation must be pre-planned and only be considered where the outcome of the fire Risk assessment establishes its use in a fire as appropriate. The problem I have found is that if you agree to a wheelchair lift (so long as the steps are not too many) there isn't a trainer to show you the safe points to lift from.