Clearview National October 2014 - Issue 155 | Page 53

Fire Safety & Security

Fire Safety & Disability:
A Burning Issue
Providing for disabled and hard of hearing building
occupants should be high on the fire safety agenda.
»»The Equality Act 2010
sets out to legally protect people
from discrimination in the
workplace and in the wider
society, including through
‘reasonable adjustments’
for disabled building
occupants to be aware of a
fire alarm sounding and be
able to safely and quickly
evacuate a building.
Having knowledge of this
issue and being able to offer a
solution will not only ensure
the safety of disabled building
occupants but could also provide
a business opportunity to offer
additional advice and product
sales.
Fire Safety
Regulation
The Regulatory Reform (Fire
Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) is
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.
Where an employer does
not make provision for the safe

evacuation
of
disabled people from its
premises, this may be viewed
as discrimination. Installers
could potentially assist with
compliance to the Equality Act,
which replaced the Disability
Discrimination Act 1995 and
2005 (DDA) on October 1st
2010.
Installers can offer adequate
fire safety products to ensure
a safe environment and make
certain that disabled and hard of
hearing guests are made aware of
a fire alarm sounding and are able
to evacuate the establishment
quickly and safely. It is often a
combination of equipment used
for compliance as beacons, for
example, can’t be relied upon in
bright light.
Evacuation Strategy
& Fire Doors
Installers need to be aware that
in the situation where staff or
regular visitors to a building have
disabilities, the HR department
or building manager must create
an evacuation plan tailored to
their individual needs, called
a ‘PEEP’ (Personal Emergency
Evacuation Plan). This does
not only apply to permanent

disabilities,
temporary injuries such as
sprained ankles and mobility
difficulties as associated with
pregnancy also need to be
addressed.
Products should be installed to
ensure that those with a hearing
impairment are made aware
of a fire alarm. This could be
a product that vibrates and/or
uses light to alert to a fire alarm,
such as the Deafgard, or the
DMS system that alerts deaf or
hard or hearing people via text
message. Ensuring these sorts of
products are in place will offer
deaf and hard of hearing people
the freedom to move around
buildings without the worry of
not being aware of an emergency
situation.
Should the building that
you are working in or with
host occupants with physical
disabilities, the evacuation
procedure should take these
into account. Keeping escape
routes clear at all times is an allimportant 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 put in place to
ensure these people are able
to evacuate the building
without using the lifts.
Fire doors are one of the most
important fire safety features in a