Evacuation Sledge Training
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 sledges are one way the ‘responsible person’ can comply with this legal requirement.
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 sledge (also known as an evacuation mat or evacuation pad).
Your colleagues will leave the course with confidence in their abilities in both helping someone into the chair and getting them out of the building. They should also leave the course with a collection of questions that you will be able to answer with regards to your fire risk assessment and evacuation policy; something that will help improve their knowledge and possibly your 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 5’6” – 6’3” height range.
Note:
Evacuation sledges 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.
Course syllabus includes:
- What is an evacuation sledge?
- When would you use one?
- Who would use one?
- Legislation relating to evacuation sledges
- Disability awareness & etiquette
- Planning an evacuation
- Evacuation strategies
- PEEPS & GEEPS
- Risks to evacuation sledge operators
- The spine
- Employers considerations
- Moving, lifting & handling techniques
- Avoiding injuries to the sledge operators
- Team lifting
- Evacuation sledge use (practical)
- Assisting people into the evacuation sledge
- Written test
Course Type:
- Practical, face to face training.
- Maximum of 12 candidates per course to ensure your safety in the stairwell.
Certificate:
- 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 sledge 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 Sledge Operator.
Course duration & Times:
- This course runs from 9am until 3pm over one day.
- 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 is required for this course.
- A reasonable level of physical fitness & strength is required to use the sledges safely.
- 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.
Equipment:
- We highly recommend that during any courses run at your venue, we use your evacuation equipment where possible. This provides staff with hands-on knowledge of (and confidence in) the available equipment.
- If you don’t have a sledge available for use, we can bring a popular model of evacuation sledge for use during the course. If you wish to use our evacuation sledge, 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 8 candidates for the course, please contact us to discuss holding a private course.
Geographical coverage:
- This qualification 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 sledges, we do request that you make one of your evacuation sledges available on your course. This is to ensure that your colleagues are familiar with how they operate.
ChrisGarland –
Recent reviews collected directly after the course:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “Very useful, particularly the practice/use of the sledge. This will make us more confident in a real life emergency. Very informative, relevant & well paced. My biggest take-away was how to handle the sledge and realistic considerations around fire safety.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “Very good course. Interesting. Very knowledgable. Good practical session. Great to have the training in our workplace. My biggest take-away was how to use the sled & additional needs which we have to put in place re GEEP.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “Excellent; very informative. My biggest take-away was to be potentially thinking about our visitors and what we would do if in emergency & how to use the evacuation sledge.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “Good pace, well presented, practical aspect was good. My biggest take-away was being able to use an evacuation sledge.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “Great theory & practical. Very engaging. I felt able to ask questions & received great responses. Covered lots and how to keep learning. We’ll now look at the centre in a new way. My biggest take-away was how important it is, from simple posters to getting someone down the stairs to understanding the future regulations.”
ChrisGarland –
Recent reviews collected directly after the course:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “Great knowledge of the trainer, really opening our eyes about planning various evacuation routes.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “A “must have” training course for all staff!”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “Trainers knowledge amazing. Excellent delivery.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “Amazing knowledge from the trainer. More staff should have the training.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “Good information. The training was informative and instructive, both classwork and practical.”
ChrisGarland –
Recent reviews collected directly after the course:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “Great information!”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “Great course with plenty of practice time.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “Great. Learnt lots.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – “I can see why most people use evacuation chairs!”