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Evacuation: The ADA Link Continued Planning and preparation for emergency
evacuation of people with disabilities includes
making sure the necessary equipment is easy to locate and ready to use. |
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Employers can ask for information that relates to the safety of employee or
others.The optimal approach is to ask all employees — not just those with disabilities — to inform the responsible department or person if and what assistance anyone would need in order to safely evacuate the building during an emergency. With that approach, there is no need to ask someone if he or she has a
disability and, if so, to disclose that disability. Instead, the facilities professional, in
asking for information, will make it possible to
safely evacuate everyone. Inserts into company newsletters or communications sent out by management to tenants should highlight the organization’s efforts to provide a safe and effective environment for all tenants and
visitors. Managers involved in planning should not assume that individuals with obvious physical disabilities are the only ones who will have
difficulties evacuating. Individuals with a range of medical conditions - including asthma or heart conditions - or any occupant who is recuperating from an injury or surgery might have difficulty using steps during an
evacuation. Collecting information It can be particularly challenging to get individuals with hidden disabilities - panic disorders, for example - safely out of the building.Anticipating and being prepared for that eventuality will be very important.These guidelines apply whether it is an
owneroccupied building, an educational or governmental building, or a multi-use, commercial building. In commercial buildings with mixed-use tenants that include retail, tenant built-out space, and owner-occupied space, the variety of people in the building at any given moment is virtually unknown.That challenge can lead to these questions: “If I don’t know who is in my building,how can I know who will need help to evacuate? And what kind of assistance will they need?” That is why the task of collecting the
information and communicating with employees, tenants and visitors is critical. Managers should make good use of signage in buildings. More importantly, they must make sure that security and building personnel are fully aware of procedures and the placement of equipment that is needed in an emergency evacuation. Planning for safety What managers do after collecting the
information is the most important step. Once they have determined who within their facilities needs assistance, they need to take important measures to ensure that all tenants and
visitors can be evacuated safely. The first step is to make practice
evacuations mandatory. Those who will opt out of the exercise might, in fact, be the very
people who will pose the greatest challenges - and most likely will not be ones with
disabilities. Practice evacuations with less than the full complement of people in a building also can give a false timeframe for evacuation. The next step is to refine or develop a
safety team consisting of organization and
facilities staff. This team presents an opportunity for the development of a program whereby team members are paired with individuals with disabilities to assist them in the
evacuation and rescue process. Remembering the basics In developing an emergency evacuation plan for people with disabilities, it is
important to remember the basics. Managers and other team members must work with local fire officials.They also must communicate with all employees, and in multi-tenant buildings, they'll need to
communicate with tenants and encourage them to do the same with their employees. |
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