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Evacuation: The ADA Link Continued |
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Managers
also must make sure everyone knows the location of rescue and evacuation
paths. Review in-house equipment to determine whether additional equipment
might be needed, and determine the best location for the equipment. Make sure
that key safety team members know where the equipment is stored. Managers
also can take several key actions designed to making a facility a safer place
for employees, customers and visitors: Ü Know what a
facility can support. A thorough ADA survey not only will
identify barriers to access but will highlight emergency evacuation
elements. Ü Augment a
facility’s structure with emergency evacuation products, such as
manual evacuation chairs. Ü Look for and
document the existence and placement of alarms - both visual and
audible - emergency communications, emergency egress and areas of
rescue assistance. Ü Make sure
that paths of travel from restrooms and common areas and spaces
provide for adequate clearance. Installing
these items is only the first step.
Maintenance and upkeep of these are equally important. Maintenance and
engineering managers must make sure that: Ü battery
back-ups for alarms are in good working order. Ü trash cans,
urns and other items do not block
maneuvering clearances
at doors, particularly in rest rooms. Ü furniture,
boxes and items do not block the path in offices and common
spaces. Nothing can
replace a calm and safe evacuation, and that result cannot happen without
planning, communication and practice. Joan W.
Stein is the president and CEO of Accessibility Development Associates Inc.
(ADA Inc.), an ADA consulting firm located in Pittsburgh. This article
appeared in the November 2003 issue of Maintenance Solutions magazine and is
reprinted here with permission from Trade Press Publishing Corporation. n |
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THE ROLE OF ELEVATORS The most
recent critical issue at hand is the use of passenger elevators as a means of
emergency evacuation in multi-story buildings. Traditionally
in an emergency, elevators are inactivated and return automatically to the
first floor in order to prevent an elevator from opening onto a floor that
already is consumed by fire. But with the changes brought about by events of
Sept. 11, 2001, organizations such as National Fire Prevention Association
are evaluating and debating this requirement. The
discussions center on when it is feasible to use passenger elevators to
evacuate individuals who cannot use the stairs, once it is determined that
the emergency affecting the facility is not a fire. Managers
should monitor developments in this area closely, as they are certain to
affect planning and preparation for emergency evacuations. Joan W.
Stein |
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