Evacuation Chair Training

Evacuation Chair Operator and Assistant Course

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the ‘responsible person’ (e.g. the building owner or employer) has to ensure that everyone (whether an employee or visitor) can be evacuated safely from the building during an emergency. Evacuation chairs are one way the ‘responsible person’ can comply with this legal requirement, making evacuation chair training a legal requirement. Note that evacuation chairs are also the preferred means of escape method for disabled people as noted in the Government Guidance.

At 5 hours, our course is several hours longer than the industry average. That’s because we ensure that we cover all the elements of the Government recommended training syllabus, and not just the bare bones of how to use an evacuation chair.

You will leave the course with confidence in your abilities in both helping someone into the chair and then getting them out of the building. Most candidates also leave the course with a collection of questions that help them further investigate their workplace fire risk assessments and evacuation policy. In turn, this helps to improve their knowledge and possibly rewrite your workplace processes & policies.

Please note that those who have physical issues (muscular & joint, etc) will struggle with the practical elements of the course, as will those who are outside of the 5’5” – 6’3” height range.

Note:

The Medical Devices Directive (93/42/EEC) classify evacuation chairs and sledges as Class 1 Medical Devices, alongside wheelchairs, hospital beds, etc. As such they fall under the requirements of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER).

This means there is a legal obligation on equipment providers to ensure adequate staff training, as well as servicing of the equipment, to ensure that the equipment can be operated safely during emergency situations. The maintenance regime and requirements are determined by the equipment manufacturer under the Medical Devices Directive with servicing generally undertaken by a competent person every 12 months.

Course syllabus includes:

• History behind evacuation chairs.
• What is an evacuation chair?
• Who would use one and when?
• Legislation relating to evacuation chairs.
• Disability awareness & etiquette
• Planning an evacuation
• Evacuation strategies
• PEEPS & GEEPS
• Risks to evacuation sledge operators
• The spine
• Employers considerations
• Moving, lifting & handling techniques.
• Postural issues to avoid injuries to the chair operator.
• Evacuation Chair use (practical)
• Assisting people into the evacuation evacuation chair and back.
• Written test

Course Type:

• Practical, face to face training.
• Maximum of 12 candidates per course.

Certificate:

• In most cases evacuation of people using typical evacuation chair is a two-person task, so having an assistant is a significant physical and psychological advantage for all involved, not least the evacuee!
• For those who attend the course and whom, in our (or their) opinion, are not competent to be regarded as an evacuation chair operator, we offer the option for them to be certified as an evacuation chair assistant.
• Certificates will be issued at the discretion of the trainer depending on the level of competence and ability demonstrated during the course. (e.g. those who physically cannot control the decent of a loaded evacuation chair safely may be certified as an assistant rather than an operator).
• Following successful completion of the course and assessments, you will receive the following course certificate issued by Chris Garland Training:
  • Evacuation Chair Operator Certificate, or Evacuation Chair Assistant Certificate.

Course duration & Times:

• This one day course runs from 9am until around 3.30pm.
  • 5 face-to-face guided learning hours.
  • <1 hours break through the day.
  • Please arrive in plenty of time to be ready for a 9am start.

Test:

• Multiple-Choice Question paper:
  • You need to score 70% to achieve a pass.
• Practical assessment:
  • You need to score 100% to achieve a pass.

Pre-requisites:

Personnel:

• No prior experience or evacuation chair training is required for this course.
• A reasonable level of physical fitness & strength is required to use the chairs safely (despite what some manufacturers claim!).
• Those with back or shoulder problems, mobility issues or of a nervous disposition will find this course challenging & we don’t recommend they undertake the course.
• Please ensure that you wear flat shoes (not high-heels, etc) on the day of the course. See our Joining Instructions for more information.
• Evacuation chair operators of a petite stature (under approx 5’5″/165cm) and therefore typically body mass and strength, tend to ensure a swift delivery of the evacuee to the bottom of the stairs and as such may prefer to be certified as an evacuation chair assistant rather than operator.

Evacuation Chairs:

• When courses run at your venue, we highly recommend that we use your evacuation equipment where possible. This provides staff with hands-on knowledge of (and confidence in) the available equipment.
• Please note that evacuation chairs must be serviced every 12 months. If your chair(s) haven’t, we won’t be able to use your chairs during the course.
• If you don’t have a chair available for use, we can bring a popular model of evacuation chair for use during the course. If you wish to use our evacuation chair, please ensure that you advise us when arranging your course booking.

Candidates:

• All scheduled/open courses have a minimum and maximum number of candidates that we can take on a course.
  • Minimum: We need a minimum of 3 candidates booked on an open/scheduled course for the course to run. Click here for more details.
  • Maximum: To ensure your safety at the top of the stairs, we can only take a maximum of 12 candidates per course.
• Should you have more than 12 candidates for the course, please contact us to discuss private courses.

Geographical coverage:

• This evacuation chair training is available to candidates across the UK. We can deliver it outside the UK but the protocols that we teach to meet current UK guidelines.

Venue:

• Scheduled/Open Courses:
  • These run at our training centre in Knutsford, Cheshire.
• Private Courses:
  • Why not arrange to have a private courses run at your workplace? Simply fill in our quote request form and we will get back to you with a personalised quotation.
  • We can run this course for you at your premises anywhere in the country with a maximum of 12 people per course. Naturally you’ll also need to have a suitable staircase at your premises that we can use during the course.
  • While we will bring our own training chairs, we do request that you make one of your evacuation chair available on your course. This is to ensure that your colleagues are familiar with how they operate.

Joining instructions:

• Visit this page to read the course joining instructions.