Evacuation Chairs
There is a common misunderstanding that it is the responsibility of the emergency services to ensure the safe evacuation of persons from a building, this is simply not the case.
It is a legal requirement for employers and service providers to ensure the safe evacuation of everyone, including mobility impaired persons, in the event of an emergency.
Today's law stipulates that it is no longer the duty of the Fire Service to make sure the workplace is safe, the duty now lies with 'the responsible person'.
The responsibility is clearly with the building management or service providers to ensure there are suitable procedures in place to evacuate everyone including disabled people without relying on the fire service.
The responsible person must nominate a sufficient number of competent persons to implement procedures in so far as they relate to the evacuation of relevant persons from the premises.
Building managers should not be contemplating refusing entry to disabled people but should have plans in place that ensure the safe evacuation of all building users whether or not the fire service is available.
There is no document which states that disabled people should be left in a building to wait for the fire service during a fire. In fact, current legislative documents and standards state that it is the responsibility of building management to ensure their safe escape by introducing suitable escape plans.
Where equipment is provided to assist in the evacuation of disabled people (e.g. evacuation chairs), it is important to ensure that its operational capability is maintained.
The Evacuation Chair is a cost effective method of ensuring the safe evacuation of non-ambulant persons from the upper or lower levels of buildings in the event of an emergency or when lifts can not be used due to maintenance or breakdown.
APPLICATIONS:
Evacuation Chairs can be used on virtually all types of staircases where access is provided to upper and lower levels to safely evacuate non-ambulant persons.
Public buildings
Offices
Retail premises
Leisure premises
Hospitals
Educational establishments
Aviation industry
Marine industry
Shopping centres
Care industry
Event management
Emergency Services
Personal use
FEC1 – Suitable for downward and level ground evacuation
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FEC3 – Suitable for upward downward and level ground evacuation
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