With the new academic year approaching, now is the perfect time for organisations across the education sector to review their emergency evacuation procedures and make sure buildings, staff, students and equipment are prepared for an emergency.
Whether you manage a school, college, university, nursery, specialist education setting or other educational facility, effective education sector fire safety and emergency planning needs to consider everyone using the building. This includes students, pupils, teaching and support staff, contractors and visitors, including anyone who may require additional assistance to evacuate safely. For educational facilities with multiple floors or stairways, evacuation chairs can play an important role in helping people with mobility difficulties evacuate safely when lifts cannot be used.
Evacuation Chairs: An Essential Safety Solution for the Education Sector
An evacuation chair is designed to help safely move a person who cannot use stairs independently during an emergency evacuation. For students, pupils, staff or visitors who use a wheelchair or have limited mobility, having suitable emergency evacuation equipment readily available can make a significant difference.
An evacuation chair may form part of a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) where appropriate and should be considered as part of an educational facility’s wider emergency evacuation plan, fire safety procedures and accessibility arrangements.
Having an evacuation chair in place can provide:
- A practical solution for evacuating people with mobility difficulties
- Greater confidence for trained staff during an emergency
- Support for inclusive and accessible emergency evacuation planning
- An additional safety measure for students, pupils, staff and visitors
- Greater preparedness for fire and other building evacuation scenarios
However, choosing the right evacuation chair for an educational environment is important. Education providers should consider their staircase design, building layout, user requirements, evacuation routes, storage location, frequency of use and staff training requirements.
Our team can help educational organisations assess their requirements and identify an appropriate evacuation solution.
Choosing the Right Evacuation Chair for Your Educational Facility
Not every evacuation chair is suitable for every education setting. The equipment should be assessed against the individual requirements of the building, the people who may need assistance and the organisation’s emergency evacuation procedures.
Different educational environments may have very different requirements. A primary school, secondary school, college, university campus, nursery or specialist education facility may have different building layouts, staircases, occupancy levels and evacuation needs.
When choosing an evacuation chair, consider:
- The type and design of staircases
- The number of floors and evacuation routes
- The people who may require evacuation assistance
- Where the evacuation chair will be stored
- How quickly it can be accessed during an emergency
- Staff availability and evacuation responsibilities
- Evacuation chair training requirements
- Inspection, maintenance and servicing arrangements
- How the equipment fits into existing PEEPs and emergency procedures
Evacuation Chair Training Matters
Having an evacuation chair available is only one part of effective emergency preparedness. Staff who may be responsible for operating the equipment should receive appropriate evacuation chair training and have the opportunity to practise using it safely.
Regular training, equipment checks, maintenance and evacuation drills can help ensure that relevant staff understand their responsibilities and know what to do if an emergency occurs.
Education providers should also regularly review their fire evacuation procedures, emergency evacuation plans and PEEPs to ensure they remain appropriate as students, staff, visitors, buildings and circumstances change.
Lucas and the #NoStudentLeftBehind Campaign
The importance of accessible evacuation planning in education has been highlighted by Lucas Vezza-O’Brien and his #NoStudentLeftBehind campaign.
Lucas, a wheelchair user, was left upstairs during a school fire after there was no suitable evacuation equipment available to assist him downstairs. His experience highlighted an important question for everyone responsible for education fire safety and emergency evacuation planning:
If an emergency happens, can everyone get out safely?
His campaign is a reminder that accessibility and inclusive emergency evacuation should be an essential part of education sector fire safety planning, rather than an afterthought.
The Start of the Academic Year Is the Perfect Time for a Safety Review
Before the new academic year begins, education providers should take the opportunity to review their emergency evacuation arrangements and identify any potential gaps.
Consider:
- Are emergency evacuation routes clear and accessible?
- Do you have suitable evacuation chairs where required?
- Are evacuation chairs accessible, correctly positioned and maintained?
- Have relevant staff received evacuation chair training?
- Are Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) up to date?
- Have your fire evacuation procedures been reviewed?
- Have emergency evacuation procedures been tested through appropriate drills?
- Are staff confident in supporting people who require evacuation assistance?
- Can every student, pupil, member of staff and visitor evacuate safely?
Taking action before the new academic year gives schools, colleges, universities, nurseries and other educational organisations an opportunity to identify and address gaps in their emergency evacuation plans.
Everyone Deserves a Safe Way Out and We're Here to Help
Effective emergency evacuation planning in the education sector is about making sure everyone has a safe and practical way out of a building in an emergency.
Whether you are reviewing your education fire safety procedures, looking for evacuation chairs, arranging evacuation chair training or assessing your existing emergency evacuation equipment, we’re here to help.
Our team can help educational organisations understand their requirements and find the right accessible evacuation solution for their building and the people who use it.