17-01-2025
Did you know that as an employer, or person responsible for Fire Safety within your organisation, you have a duty of care to ensure that all people, including disabled people, can leave your building safely in the event of a fire? Have you considered how a wheelchair user, for example, will evacuate from an upper (or below ground level) floor when the lifts are out of operation due to the fire alarm activating? Lifts typically ground when the fire alarm activates.
Here is an extract from the guidance issued by Northern Ireland Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety:
“The evacuation of all persons, including people with disabilities, from the premises is the responsibility of those persons with control of the premises. It cannot be delegated to the Fire and Rescue Service. Appropriate arrangements should be made to ensure that the premises can be fully evacuated if necessary. It is not appropriate to move people with disabilities to internal holding points for evacuation by the Fire and Rescue Service.”
You can download the full guidance document here: https://www.nifrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Fire-Safety-Law-Are-You-Aware-of-Your-Responsibilities.pdf
Ensuring safe evacuation for everyone in an emergency is a critical part of fire safety, and we’re committed to helping our clients stay at the forefront of best practice. That’s why we’ve partnered up with a leading global provider of evacuation equipment, Safety Chair International.
Safety Chair have provided our engineers with two days of intensive training in Birmingham:
Day One covered:
– Hands-on training with different types of evacuation chairs
– Understanding the benefits of the various models of chair
– Gaining certification to deliver evacuation chair Operator Training and Train the Trainer courses
Day Two covered:
– Servicing and maintenance best practices
– Parts replacement, including belt changes
Following this training, we are now taking bookings for:
– Evacuation chair installation
– Annual servicing & maintenance of evacuation chairs
– Supply of additional evacuation equipment (including mats & sheets)
– Training for evacuation chair operators, including Train the Trainer courses
If your organisation needs expert guidance, training or maintenance, get in touch with us today.
Let’s ensure safe and compliant emergency evacuation for everyone!
