What is the evacuation procedure?
• Such persons should be evacuated horizontally (by a colleague, lecturer or member of library staff, for example) to a staircase landing and be allowed to wait there while a message is sent ahead to the emergency controller (duty attendant) by a colleague, lecturer or member of library staff, etc. to inform Birkbeck’s reception desk staff of the situation. • Whenever possible, a member of staff or a colleague should wait with the disabled person to provide continued reassurance. • All staircase landings are protected by fire resisting doors. Accordingly, disabled persons and those accompanying them waiting there for assistance with evacuation are in places of relative safety. • If the staircase clears while waiting, then those persons whose disability allows them to should start to ascend/descend at their own pace. • Information on whether an evacuation will actually be necessary will then be brought back by trained Birkbeck staff or fire brigade officers to the disabled person/people
