Evacuation Chair Training courses

Anyone that is in a commercial premises and who may have mobility problems during an emergency evacuation must have a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) drawn up for them, and at least one person allocated to help evacuate them to safety should such a situation arise.

Failure to consider the needs of disabled and other mobility impaired people in the event of an emergency evacuation is a breach of several pieces of legislation, including the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, and the Equality Act 2010 (or The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 for Northern Ireland), and could result in prosecution.

Where a Fire Safety Risk Assessment has identified obstacles that could constitute a mobility hazard to those evacuating premises (eg lifts, stairs and steps), the emergency evacuation plans will often specify the use of refuges and the placement of evacuation chairs in order that mobility impaired persons can be quickly and safely evacuated.

It can never be deemed acceptable to consider leaving vulnerable people in a building during an emergency evacuation. It is also important to consider that emergency evacuations can occur for reasons other than fire, and relying on fire doors to "buy time" for people is completely unacceptable.

Our short course in Evacuation Chair training will provide your staff with the background knowledge to appreciate their responsibilities, and will give them plenty of hands-on practice using the evacuation chairs to simulate evacuations under controlled circumstances. The qualification satisfies the requirements for staff training under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) and can serve to demonstrate your compliance with the legislation.

We can (and prefer to) deliver this course in your own premises, with your own equipment, where we can review your procedures and discuss and highlight any issues identified, and also train your staff with your own equipment wherever possible, to allow them to practice as it would happen.

Where it is not feasible to train on your premises, or you have yet to obtain equipment, we can provide facilities ourselves. For training, we use an Evac-Chair 600H, which gives additional abilities over the simpler (and more normally specified) chairs, but which also behaves exactly the same as a conventional evacuation chair. This gives the opportunity for learners to identify and practice with additional problems that may occur in evacuations, such as upward evacuations from cellars, or over obstacles such as steps/pipes/kerbs, or with larger evacuees where appropriate.

Our trainers for the Evacuation Chair Training course are all experienced professionals, with a Fire Safety and or Emergency Medical background. Most have experience in live emergency evacuation procedures, having done it for real, or at the very least have used a wide range of patient handling equipment to transport patients from buildings. The trainers make the course fun, whilst learners take on board important safety issues.

Course contents

The RescueSkills Evacuation Chair Training course will provide learners with the skill to be able to:

• Identify key legislation involved in Fire Safety and Emergency Evacuation Plans
• Identify responsibilities of Evacuation Chair operators
• Identify limitations on use of the evacuation chair, and safety considerations during use
• Assemble, prepare for use, and test the evacuation chair
• Demonstrate safe use of the evacuation chair in simulated emergency evacuation situations
• Demonstrate appropriate actions to be taken on declaring building is safe to return to
• Identify key steps in the management of evacuation chairs

Session duration

The course lasts approximately 2 to 3 hours depending on number of learners.

Pre-requisites for attendance

There are no pre-requisites to attendance on our Evacuation Chair Training courses, however it is strongly recommended that learners have an awareness of safe handling techniques via an appropriate manual handling course. For the extra training using our Evac-Chair 600H, suitable evidence of Manual Handling Training, and a declaration of suitable physical fitness will be required from the learners, as it involves some lifting. We are able to combine this course with a manual handling course if required - please ask for details.

Suitable safe footwear for operating on stairs or uneven ground must be worn during the practical elements of the course. We reserve the right to prevent any learner from completing the training if we feel they are likely to endanger either themselves or another person through an inability to handle correctly, or if inappropriate footwear is worn.

Certification

Certificates of competence will be issued following successful completion of this course by the learners. Assessment of the learners skills will be by continuous assessment by the trainer/assessor, and a short written/multiple choice exam.

Certificates are valid for 3 years, at which time they must be renewed by re-qualification.

Re-qualification

To re-qualify in this qualification, learners must attend the Evacuation Chair Training course again.

Scheduled Courses and Booking

No public courses found in the next three months - sorry. Please ask us for details why, as this may be a problem with our databases rather than a real lack of courses.

Don't see a course that meets your requirements? Need to book a course at your venue for a small group? Please contact us.

We offer courses in Hampshire, West Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire, Dorset, and further afield. We are based in Fareham, Hampshire.

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