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Better access calls for safer egress

WHEN PROFIT IS THE DRIVING FORCE, HOTEL SAFETY MEASURES CAN BE IN DANGER OF TAKING A BACK SEAT. BARRY SCHOLES OF EVAC+CHAIR INTERNATIONAL EXPLAINS WHY THIS IS CHANGING.
Everyone in the hotel industry is by now familiar with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) which came into effect in October last year. As a self-regulated piece of legislation, it calls for adequate access to be made for those with disabilities, typical measures including the provision of wheel chairs, ramp access for wheel chair users, special hand rails and Braille signage. Once inside the hotel those with mobility problems are able to access floors above, the bedrooms and other facilities of the hotel through the use of hotel lifts.

In the event of fire or other emergencies - which regrettably must now include terrorism - the hotelier has a legal responsibility to ensure that adequate provisions are made for the safe evacuation of the building for all guests and staff.

It’s an alarming fact that in 2002, there were twenty hotel fires a week in Britain, this illustrating that good fire safety management practice is crucial, in not only avoiding fires in the first place, but having efficient procedures ready for the safety of guests. Such good practice should also ensure that any loss of hotel business is limited.

NEW FIRE REGULATIONS
Many hoteliers may not be aware that after twenty five years, in April 2006, the Fire Precautions Act will be replaced by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order under which the onus will be on the hotelier to provide a self-administered fire risk assessment. Whilst many larger hotels may take specialist advice in producing their risk assessments, others are likely to do this themselves. Fire safety management is really all about good management and should be part of the hotel team’s normal duties so that it becomes routine. The fire risk assessment has to include an emergency plan to cover those people responsible in the hotel for such things as calling the fire service, determining the location of the fire, co-ordinating the roll-call of guests and staff, and assisting the elderly, infirm or disabled. This latter responsibility on the hotelier is also reinforced by the DDA requirement. How do you evacuate those with disabilities from upper floors when there is fire in the lift shaft or where there is a power failure preventing the lifts from working? Stairways are therefore usually the only means of escape but difficult or impossible to negotiate for the mobility impaired.

SAFELY EVACUATING THE MOBILITY IMPAIRED
One solution to building evacuation comes from the Evac+Chair, which enables a single user to evacuate a person with mobility difficulties, the chair using continuous rotating V belts to provide a controlled descent down stairways without the need for lifting. There are of course, alternatives to this, such as fire proof lifts, ramps or escape chutes but as well as requiring significant alterations to the fabric of the building (and thus incurring significant costs), methods such as escape chutes are often not ideal for evacuating those with mobility difficulties and fire proof lifts are for the exclusive use of the emergency services and security staff. It’s estimated that 10% of the population suffer from some mobility impairment ranging from a heart condition to asthma, poor sight or hearing, and even women during pregnancy. So, at any one time, 10% of hotel guests could require special help in the event of an emergency.

Once the commitment is made to tackle the issue of evacuating the less able, decisions need to be made about how many chairs need to be purchased and where they are to be located. Chairs should be positioned strategically so that if one exit is blocked, then another will always be available. A site survey usually reveals the exact specification that a hotel requires to fulfil their statutory obligations. There may well be a reduction in fire insurance premiums, resulting from including evacuation chairs as part of hotel fire safety equipment.

There is no doubt that the new legislation in the way of DDA, fire risk assessment and duty of care all fall heavily on the shoulders of hoteliers, but with the right forward planning, management and training, hoteliers will be all the more efficient for such provisions in place.

Email: valerie@evacchair.co.uk