Once developed, the emergency egress plan will need to be implemented in a structured way to ensure it is successful. An implementation programme will be needed which covers making any necessary changes to the building or systems, communication of the plan to all those who need to know about it, training staff on its operation and testing to ensure suitability.
This section will meet the following aim of the document:
For organisations to be confident that the emergency egress needs of people with disabilities will be met, careful consideration must be given to the building design so that features which are needed to ensure safety are built in. This is only one aspect of the emergency escape performance of the building however. Once a building is in use, it is important that sound operational management systems for egress are in place, which give clear guidance to all building users on what they need to do to ensure their own safety and that of others.
There are a number of aspects to providing good operational management systems. The first is to have in place clear management policies that define the organisation's overall approach to emergency egress in general and emergency egress for people with disabilities in particular. A robust risk management regime needs to be in place which ensures continuing assessment of risks as the organisation develops and changes. Risk assessment needs to be backed up by procedures and plans that will deliver the policy outcomes. Staff training is also an aspect of good operational management systems, which is of paramount importance. A further aspect is the regular testing and practicing of emergency evacuation plans to ensure familiarity and continuing suitability. There is also a need to ensure adequate communication of the egress plan, policies and procedures to all potential users.
Managing egress can range from taking very simple actions such as evaluating meeting and conference rooms or event spaces for disability egress and planning meetings in the most appropriate rooms to developing complex evacuation plans using active fire systems.
To this end, it is important that building operators enquire of all people making group bookings if there are requirements needed with regards to disability or other issues so that it can be confirmed that means of escape provisions are adequate.
If alterations to the building structure or systems are required to meet the egress needs of people with disabilities, this work will need to be carried out as soon as possible. It is important to remember that such work may affect the Fire Certificate for the building and require the consent of the local authority. If it is likely that some time will be taken to make changes, it is worth looking at temporary measures or arrangements to ensure safe egress for people with disabilities.
It is recommended that, during any refurbishment works, consideration is given to upgrading the accessibility of the property and enhance facilities for all potential users.
The emergency egress plan will need to be communicated to all those who have a role to play. Stakeholder groups who may need to know about the emergency egress plan will include:
The form of communication and the amount of detail provided will depend on which stakeholder group is being targeted. Staff who act as fire wardens will need detailed knowledge of the plan, which is best achieved through training sessions, whilst visitors will need only basic information, perhaps delivered via signage, verbally at reception or by public announcement at the start of a seminar for example. People with disabilities who are the subject of a PEEP will need to have full understanding of all aspects which affect them directly. The most effective form of communication for staff will be a combination of awareness sessions, documentation and drills. The fire service may be interested in visiting the premises to familiarise the operational crews with the emergency egress plan and to establish that it will co-ordinate with their fire fighting procedures.
Some equipment is available to assist people with disabilities and those managing the evacuation process. Equipment is available to make the giving of warnings about an emergency more effective, to provide assistance with wayfinding and to make movement towards escape, particularly vertically, easier.
Ascending or descending stairs remains the most difficult part of escape travel for people with mobility impairments. As mentioned elsewhere, the use of passenger lifts for emergency evacuation is not advised due to the potential for people to be trapped if the power supply is interrupted and the dangers of the lift being opened inadvertently on the fire floor with the potential to expose occupants to danger. In buildings not equipped with evacuation lifts, the normal approach is for those requiring assistance with mobility to move or be moved to safe areas, where they are protected from the fire, to await the assistance of trained staff. Where wheelchair users need to be evacuated up or down stairs, it is not considered safe to evacuate them in their own chairs as this poses unacceptable risks to those providing assistance as well as the person in the chair.
Commercially available evacuation chairs can be used to evacuate people downwards in a controlled manner. The chairs are designed to fold into a compact size for storage within protected escape stairs. Suppliers of the chairs provide training on their operation, which needs to be given to a sufficient number of people to ensure adequate levels of trained personnel are available at all material times. The person requiring assisted escape must first transfer to the evacuation chair and may require assistance. The descent of the chair is under the force of gravity and chairs are fitted with a braking system that allows the rate of descent to be controlled by a single person. Evacuation chairs are not designed for upwards escape, such as would be the case for basements.
Other devices are available that can ascend or descend stairs using a battery powered motor. These can be divided into devices which require no attachments to be fitted to wheelchairs in advance and those which do. The former devices involve a tracked platform or support frame onto which a user's wheelchair is strapped. A battery powered motor enables the platform to ascend or descend stairs with minimal effort on the part of the assistant. Other stair climbing devices require a bracket to be fitted to the wheelchair to be evacuated, onto which the device is attached when needed. This means that stair climbing devices are generally only suitable for evacuation of staff members or others whose presence in the building can be anticipated, and to whose chairs the necessary brackets have been pre-fitted. It might be possible to make stair climbers of more general use by fitting brackets to a spare conventional wheelchair which is stored at the vertical escape route.
The choice of evacuation aid will be informed through the preparation of a risk assessment. Technological advances are being made in the design of evacuation aids as industry reacts to increased demand brought about by the introduction of legislation. It will be important therefore for building managers to keep abreast of innovations.
If evacuation chairs are to be used the following points must be considered:
The presence of a tactile corduroy warning surface at the bottom of stairs can pose a difficulty for certain evacuation chairs due to the small wheel size used. Although current guidance in TGD M requires the provision of this type of tactile warning, some of the more recently produced codes in the UK have moved away from its provision at internal flights.
As discussed above, the use of an evacuation chair will require the transfer of a wheelchair user from their personal chair to the evacuation chair. This can be difficult for some people depending on their particular condition. Reluctance to use an evacuation chair may arise from a lack of confidence in the staff or equipment, or from concerns about aggravating a particular condition or injury. Evacuation chairs are not customised to fit individual users needs and there may be some discomfort experienced during the evacuation. It is possible that someone might refuse to transfer to the evacuation chair, creating a problem for the staff who are assisting. In such cases, the development of a PEEP provides an opportunity for discussion and evaluation of options.
The use of an evacuation lift will always be the best option for the vertical escape of those who require assistance. In buildings where an evacuation lift is not provided, and people are unable or unwilling to use an evacuation chair, then the building management will need to make every effort to instil confidence in the person with a disability that those operating the evacuation chairs are fully trained and capable. If this is not achievable, the organisation will need to give consideration to restricting access for some people to areas from which safe egress can be guaranteed.
The presence of trained staff to assist with the evacuation of a building can add considerably to the level of safety achieved and reduce the time taken to escape. Staff intervention can have a very real impact in situations where visitors who are not familiar with the building are present, where people have mobility problems or where people are involved in activities to which they are very committed.
Effective staff intervention can reduce response and recognition time for people with disabilities and can enable staff to safely assist those who need help with getting around.
In some situations staff intervention is absolutely essential, for example, where a person who uses a wheelchair to move around needs to descend an escape stairway to get to safety. It is a common misconception that management responsibility ends with getting people with disabilities to the safe areas on upper floors and the Fire and Rescue Service will do the rest. Whilst fire fighters will no doubt do whatever is necessary to save life, it is of enormous benefit if the evacuation of people with disabilities is started before the fire service arrives at the scene, so that fire fighters are free to concentrate on other aspects of dealing with the incident. It is the responsibility of the building management to make every effort to get everyone to safety. It is therefore essential that organisations provide sufficient levels of trained staff to deal with the safe evacuation of everyone in the building.
Staff can also be trained in the appropriate and safe use of first aid fire fighting equipment. However, only competent and willing personnel should be encouraged to attend this specific training.
To enable the safe egress of people with disabilities particular emphasis needs to be placed on the training of staff in the following areas:
All staff require a level of training on the emergency procedures that have been put in place for the building. This should form part of induction training for new staff.
Those staff who are given particular responsibilities in an emergency evacuation, such as fire wardens, will need more in-depth training to enable them to complete their duties successfully and safely. Staff members with PEEPs will require appropriate training and support to ensure the PEEP can be implemented safely.
It is important that staff who will be required to intervene in an emergency evacuation have an understanding of general disability issues. This will enable them to appreciate the difficulties faced by people with disabilities and to anticipate the type of assistance that might be required. Of particular importance is an understanding of cognitive and mental health impairments and an appreciation of "hidden" disabilities that might be overlooked. Staff should be trained in techniques to minimise the panic that some people with cognitive or mental health impairments may experience in the event of an emergency evacuation, and the importance of providing and reiterating clear instructions on evacuation procedures.
Staff will need specialist training on particular aspects of assisting with mobility. Examples might include the transfer of people from a bed or personal wheelchair into an evacuation aid, or the safe use of an evacuation chair used to descend stairs. Manual handling training is also required so that staff know how to safely manage heavy or awkward loads.
It may be necessary for staff to have the ability to communicate with people who are deaf or have hearing impairments . This might require a number of staff to have a basic understanding of sign language.
An important aspect of staff training is to ensure that there are sufficient people trained to provide adequate cover at all material times. This means that sufficient numbers of trained staff must be available to cope with contingencies such as absences due to holiday or illness, out-of-hours use of buildings, or abnormal occupancy levels. At times, it may be possible to have unusually high numbers of people with disabilities in a building simultaneously. In such circumstances it is essential that the appropriate number of trained staff is available.
A further imperative for staff training is that it is refreshed at regular intervals and that a system is in place to ensure that staff turnover does not create gaps in cover.
BS5588-12 recommends that the emergency evacuation plan and procedures be tested twice yearly and that a full evacuation be carried out once each year. Testing procedures and running evacuation drills demonstrates that the emergency evacuation plan is valid, enables fine tuning of the plan and ensures that staff are familiar with the steps to take and have had a chance to practice. It is important for procedures testing and drills to reflect actual evacuations. This may include having people with disabilities involved in the exercises or having role players. The maximum benefit is achieved from testing and drills if a debriefing takes place after each and the learning that results is used to review the plans and procedures.
Drills can be either announced or unannounced and it is preferable that both take place. Announced drills are useful for training purposes but unannounced drills will enable the effectiveness of the procedures to be tested. It must be remembered that drills do not always accurately reflect the situations that can arise in a real emergency such as the presence of smoke, flame or injured people. Allowances need to be made in the emergency plan for these eventualities.
It is essential that accurate records of all drills are kept to comply with health and safety legislation and to ensure that any corrective action required is implemented.