Rank: Forum user 
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Dear all,
I am working on opening up our fairly large campus to a pupil in a wheelchair. We have managed to enable use of the essential buildings so far with evacuation chairs, ramps etc, but some buildings are proving to be more difficult. I keep coming back to an issue though and I don't know if I'm just being daft.
Several of these buildings can be accessed and exited on the same level, but only through one entrance. The other entrances/exits are far more difficult to change and the pupil concerned would not necessarily stay near to these exits once in the building, and may therefore not be able to use that one if the fire is in that area (obviously!) I keep making this point, but the powers that be are desperate to allow much greater access but don't have an endless pot of money to be able to keep spending on chairs and changes to buildings (many of which are listed) I sympathise with them and with the pupil, who is also extremely keen on accessing everywhere, as indeed he should if at all possible.
The pupil concerned always has a buddy/TA during core hours and we are also insisting on a buddy system during other building visits out of hours (residential school) He has also demonstrated that he has far more movement of his lower limbs than first thought and hence can actually get down and up stairs if necessary. Essentially I think that he could get out of most buildings, but then not be able to get away from them without getting very dirty indeed....his chair is motorised and would not be able to be lifted.
All of this is being considered in the light of fire risk assessment. If this was an adult, I would be taking far more information from them, but cannot do it with a pupil as the responsibility well and truly lies with us.
I'm at the point of asking the local fire and rescue for their advice as I feel like I'm going round in circles.
Thoughts?
Many thanks in advance.
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Rank: Forum user 
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I would certainly contact the local FRS as they are far more switched on these days than they used to be.
Also remember that if you cannot reasonably make adjustments to the buildings then consider establishing refuge areas for emergency use.
These would ideally be within protected stairways, corridors or other fire blocked areas.
There is always a management problem with these spaces as people always seem to end up using them for storage!
But, you could establish and mark the area, provide a rescue chair on the wall adjacent, inform staff of the whereabouts and put in place suitable emergency arrangements whereby appointed staff are instructed to check the refuge area before evacuation who could assist the 'buddy' in evacuation and even provide a telephone connection for the trapped person to use to inform staff of their whereabouts.
Again the local FRS will be able to help you identify suitable refuge areas, and they would like to be informed of these arrangements also for their PDA response plans.
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Rank: Forum user
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Many thanks roshqse. We have done this in a few buildings already but I'm having a few problems suggesting to the budget holders that we have even more evacuation chairs in more buildings (we have approx 60 buildings!) Never an easy one...
I will contact the FRS as you suggest.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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roshqse wrote:
Again the local FRS will be able to help you identify suitable refuge areas, and they would like to be informed of these arrangements also for their PDA response plans.
Blimey - You seem to have trust in your local F&RS. My former employers (a large metropolitan fire service) told us inspecting officers to 'guide' responsible persons, but not to risk assess the premises for them. I had dealings on many occasions from punters asking for advice which ended up in us issuing/threatening notices. I would not necessarily - for instance - help a RP to determine where their refuges should be One example was when a business owner occupying a 6 storey single staircase office lost their reciprocal means of escape over the roof and through next door. The neighbouring building became unoccupied and the owners secured the access door against intruders. The caller thought the fire service would warn the neighbours, where in fact we had no choice to enter into a voluntary agreement (in lieu of an enforcement and prohibition notice) for the upper floor of the office to be vacated. The reason for posting this? The fire service is now an enforcing authority. They will give limited advice, but have duty to 'police' the RRO Would you drive into a Police station and ask them if your tyres were bald or would you go the local Kwik Fit? Similarly, would you ask building control to design your house extension or use an architect? In the same way, fire safety consultants are out there to determine solutions for customers. In this cash strapped age, expect less favours from your friendly fire service as they tighten their collective belts
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Rank: Forum user 
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mootoppers wrote:Many thanks roshqse. We have done this in a few buildings already but I'm having a few problems suggesting to the budget holders that we have even more evacuation chairs in more buildings (we have approx 60 buildings!) Never an easy one...
I will contact the FRS as you suggest.
Remember the need for "Reasonable" adjustments. Why not arrange the lessons/classes so there is no requirment to visit unsuitable buildings?
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Rank: Forum user
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messyshaw wrote:
Blimey - You seem to have trust in your local F&RS.
A bit yes! lol I know what you are saying, but they also have a far greater requirement to educate and provide advice than we ever used to when I was doing it. I expect it will depend on the culture of the relevant FRS. Some are , and always were, better than others. I worked in 2 FRS and one was far better than the other. One was more proactive and spent lots more money and dedicated more resources than the other. What ever FRS is involved they will have an advisor who can help you identify suitable areas. They won't however, as Massey points out, do it all for you.
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Rank: Forum user
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Dear all - again, thanks for the replies.
Yes - from previous experience with our FRS I do trust them and will definintely contact them soon. Agree with the comments that some are better than others, although personally I have found them to be very helpful in the vast majority of cases (although with differing views on giving their opinions which will then lead to risk assessment decisions being made!)
Renny - nice thought and we've already done that as much as possible....the school is a large boarding school however and hence the pupil needs to visit most buildings on campus in order to join in with events etc.
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