Evacuation Chairs Australia

S&B media 2008 
29/ 8/2008

A DISABLED man has labelled as dangerous procedures to evacuate handicapped and elderly people from the bunker post office in case of a fire.

John Ruddick has to walk with a crutch after he broke his left leg and arms in a motorbike accident in February 2005.

He fears emergency measures that have been put in place are not suitable for someone of his size. He is 6ft 6 and 22st.

The post office in the basement of WHSmith in Wolsey Place, Woking, is accessible to people who are disabled and the elderly by a lift. But the lift would be out of bounds in case of a fire.

In an emergency, staff would be expected to identify people in the store who might need assistance before taking them to a refuge point.

They would then wait in the designated area behind fire doors, before being taken upstairs one-by-one in an ‘evac-chair’ that can go up the stairs under its own power.

Mr Ruddick said: “I don’t think the chair would be designed for my weight. I wouldn’t feel comfortable and wouldn’t want to endanger staff members or the public.

“I would try to make my own way up the stairs.

“It would be dangerous and if it was crowded there could be lives lost.”

Environmental health officers from Woking Borough Council carried out a full inspection of the store and found it to be safe, however.

A letter accompanying their report said the post office already had a number of control measures to ensure it was safe for both staff and customers.

It said: “I was pleased that you had met with the Woking Fire Service before opening this area to ensure all possible precautions, for example, fire extinguishers, evac-chairs, refuge areas, safety shutter, evacuation policy, staff training etc, were in place.”

Mr Ruddick said he did not like where the post office had been relocated to and that other dangers could include the stairs being slippery when it had been raining.

He said: “When the post office was in Market Square it was perfect. It was bigger and more easily accessible.

“I don’t like the post office as it is. I only use it two or three times a month.

“The ideal solution would be to put the post office near to the front entrance of WHSmith on the ground floor.”

A spokesman for WHSmith said: “The store has an evacuation plan that is regularly tested, as do all our stores and staff are trained on this. This is further checked through regular audits by our loss prevention team and our qualified health and safety inspectors.

“There are three different escape routes from the basement in the event of a fire — up the customer staircase or out one of the two separate internal fire escape routes on separate sides of the Post Office floor that lead out onto the street.

“All fire precautions, plans, training, signage, equipment, drill records etc were extensively tested by the fire officer and approved at the point the post office was opened.

“They undertook a full audit inspection on our premises. There are three evacuation chairs on site so that anyone in a wheelchair can be safely evacuated from the basement.