Providing for disabled and hard-of-hearing building occupants should be high on the fire safety agenda.Facilities managers must guarantee compliance with the Equality Act 2010, which sets out to legally protect people from discrimination in the workplace and wider society.
Fire-safety regulation
Facilities managers need to be aware of the Fire Safety Order (FSO), the current fire safety law in England and Wales. The FSO nominates one individual as the ‘Responsible Person’ for a building – generally deemed to be the owner, occupier or employer.
The ‘Responsible Person’ has a duty to fulfil the requirements of the FSO. Those requirements all stem from having a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment.
The responsible person also needs to provide an emergency evacuation plan for all people likely to be in the premises and instructions for how the plan will be implemented. Knowledge of the occupant’s potential disabilities and how that can affect them is vital.
Facilities managers also have a legal responsibility to ensure that premises are compliant with the Equality Act that replaced the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and 2005 (DDA) on 1 October 2010. Where an employer does not make provision for the safe evacuation of disabled people from its premises, this may be viewed as discrimination.
Facilities managers should install fire safety systems and/or products that make disabled and hard-of-hearing guests clearly aware of a fire alarm’s signals and allow for their rapid, safe evacuation from the establishment. Appropriate fire-safety measures therefore often comprise a combination of equipment as beacons, for example, can’t be relied upon in bright light.
Evacuation strategy
Effective communication with disabled people about the evacuation plan is vital to its success.
Where staff or regular visitors have disabilities, the HR department or building manager must tailor an evacuation plan to their individual needs – a ‘PEEP’ (Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan).
This does not only apply to permanent disabilities; temporary injuries such as sprained ankles and mobility difficulties associated with pregnancy must also be addressed.
Products that vibrate and/or use lights as well as sounds (such as Deafgard or the DMS system which alerts people via text message) can ensure that anyone with a hearing impairment is alerted to a fire alarm.
Should the building for which you are responsible host occupants with physical disabilities, the evacuation procedure should take them into account. Keeping means of escape routes clear at all times is an all-important part of fire safety and becomes even more vital when considering the space required for a wheelchair to get around.
If wheelchair users are located above the ground floor, adequate systems and facilities such as ramps or carry-down procedures should be installed e to permit their safe evacuation from the building without using lifts.
Fire doors
Fire doors are one of a building’s most important fire safety features and also, sadly, the most commonly abused. Of premises visited by the fire service 64% had wedged-open fire doors, Fireco research has revealed. Being aware of this issue and offering a solution could help keep building occupiers safe in the event of a fire.
Fire doors are most often wedged open to aid the free flow of movement within a building and to facilitate cleaning. With this in mind, there are products available such as the Freedor, a wireless free-swing door closer which allows a fire door to be held open, while ‘listening’ for a fire alarm – the sound of which prompts the door to close, protecting those behind it from the dangerous spread of smoke and fire for 30 minutes.
Staff training tips
The most important piece of advice I can give facilities managers is to ensure that adequate adjustments have been made to accommodate disabilities and that fire safety has been made part of everyday life.
