Posted By Simon Wright
I work in a seven-storey office block with stairways at each end which are used for emergency evauations. We have no wheelchair-user employees but could have visitors to the building in wheelchairs. They could reach all floors by using the lift but this would be out of bounds in the event of a fire. We also have wheelchair refuges located at each end of the building on each floor. In the event of a real evacuation, I find it hard to see it as acceptable to just wheel them into the refuges, say that we'll tell the emergency services where they are and then disappear ourselves down to ground level.

Our procedures state that employees should if possible assist wheelchair-users down the stairways, but what if the person is very heavy or is fragile and cannot be lifted? It raises concerns about the manual handling of persons when evacuating - should we train everyone in correct person-lifting techniques or just some of the stronger employees? What if the trained or stronger persons are out on a site visit? Should we nominate persons to stay with the wheelchair-user in the refuge until help arrives?

We have no wheelchair-user employees and have to my knowledge never had a wheelchair user visit floors other than the ground. I have suggested asking all persons who may have meetings with wheelchair users to use the ground floor meeting rooms (for ease of evacuation). I am concerned about the DDA Regulations and the fact that there is an inclusion principle for disabled persons - if we restrict meetings to the ground floor, is this discrimination?

I would welcome any comments concerning the above points and especially how your own evacuation procedures cope with this scenario. Comments from wheelchair users would be very useful.

Posted By Keith Archer.
Simon,

Has consideration been made to the feelings, anxiety and sheer panic of the person that would be left in the so-called refuges? You say that your building is seven stories high which equates to approximately 14 flights of stairs from the top floor. With the best will in the world and the use of evacuation aids i.e. evac chairs you would still have problems due to the pure physical strain placed on to the persons carrying out the evacuation.

As I understand the DDA there is provision to discriminate on grounds of health and Safety but this discrimination must be justified

If you do a search of this forum you will find that there was a previous thread on this subject which generated quite a lot of discussion.

Hope this is of assistance

Keith

Posted By Donna Fisken
Simon,

You may want to check a previous thread on this area of discussion.

It is entitled "Emergency Evacuation of Mobility Impaired Persons from Buildings" and it is on p16 of this forum, last response dated 13.12.03.

After having first-hand experience of wheelchair users I would recommend you contact the disability rights commission www.drc-gb.org for futher information.

While you can give manual handling training to staff this will not take into account powered/motorised wheelchairs and also as mentioned as a response the 'panic' factor which will inevitably occur.

If a person is in a power wheelchair and is not able to support themselves (but still quite capable of working) it is impractical to expect them to be moved out of this (hence the evac chair in this situation would be not use) and doing so could do the person more harm than good.

Speak to the DRC direct and they will be able to advise you of what would be 'reasonably practicable'. It may also be worth speaking to your local fire authority for advice/guidance.

Hope this helps.

Donna

Posted By Ken Taylor
If you don't visit the previous threads on this subject, Simon, please note that the duty is to achieve evacuation of the premises without leaving disabled persons to await rescue by the fire brigade. If your strategy depends upon the use of Evac+chairs, you will need to have given suitable persons the job (and training) to operate them.

Resonable discrimination is acceptable under the DDA and Ground floor interviewing seems very reasonable to me - and is widely practised.

Posted By Angela Fecci
Just a thought, and not sure if cost is an issue, however...... In a previous situation, I know that certain lifts can be altered to a fireman's lift. These can be used by disabled personnel in the event of an evacuation. Designated personnel will need to be allocated for the disabled person to aid them in a safe evacuation.

Posted By Zyggy Turek
We have a similar building to the one you describe & as well as having refuge areas, we ensure that the person is not left alone. We have also installed telephones which have a direct link to the fire panel where the Evacuation co-ordinator meets & greets the fire service.
As all our alarm activations to date have not been as a result of a fire, the employee can be reassured of the situation & evac chairs are on hand...just in case!