‘Lack of knowledge on evacuation plans putting disabled workers at risk’

The lives of disabled employees are at risk due to a lack of knowledge on evacuation procedures in the workplace, a campaigner has said.

Sarah Rennie called for clear Government guidance and codes of practice for businesses to ensure the safety of their mobility-impaired employees as well as site visitors.

Her comments came after the findings from a survey of UK businesses suggested a lack of awareness and preparation for the evacuation of mobility-impaired members of staff.

Ms Rennie co-founded Claddag, which represents disabled people living in homes affected by the cladding and building safety issues which arose from the Grenfell Tower fire.

The accessibility consultant and fire safety campaigner, who is herself a wheelchair user, said there cannot be different levels of safety in different environments, stating: “A life’s a life.”

A study by West Midlands-based emergency evacuation chair manufacturer Evac+Chair International surveyed 490 small and medium business decisionmakers across the UK.

It found that a quarter were not aware of the number of mobility-impaired people at their organisation; 29% of organisations have only “some” or “very little” understanding of their obligations when it comes to safe evacuations; and 10% of businesses are either not prepared or unsure if they are fully prepared to evacuate mobility-impaired members of staff.

More than two-thirds (68%) said they think fire safety legislation does not do enough to protect people with mobility issues and 82% of organisations surveyed called on the Government to provide more clarity on their responsibilities surrounding fire safety.

Ms Rennie said she was “sadly” not surprised by the findings “as somebody who’s been working as a disabled person all my adult life”.

She told the PA news agency: “I definitely think there should be Government guidance which sends a clear message that no matter what environment you’re in – are you an employee, are you renting a flat from the council on the 14th floor? – there needs to be a shared understanding of the principle that everybody needs to be able to evacuate.

“So we can’t have different levels of safety in different environments – a life’s a life. So starting with that principle, that message needs to come from the Government, and then following from that practical codes of practice.”

She said that after what had happened at Grenfell in 2017 “there really is no excuse”.

The inquiry into the blaze has heard how disabled tenants were “trapped” in the fire because there was “no plan” in place for their emergency evacuation.

The inquiry advised the Government to place a legal obligation on landlords to provide a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) for each of their disabled tenants.

Claddag has complained about a Government “failure” to implement the inquiry recommendations relating to disabled people living in high-rise flats and is waiting for a judge’s ruling, expected sometime this year, on the High Court fight.

Ms Rennie said the findings of the latest survey not only show disabled people can be “at risk” in the workplace too but also suggest that disabled colleagues are being viewed differently.

She said: “I think that employers need to consider what that says about their values and about the way they view disabled colleagues. And so if you’re allowing that risk to go unanswered, then I think you need to ask yourself why.”

The Government has been approached for comment.