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Public Address and Voice Alarm Services |
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l Home l Public Address l Voice Alarm l Network Audio l Induction Loop l Disabled Refuge l Design & Maintenance l |
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Safety within a building for the disabled – as well as for the unimpaired – is always a major consideration. During an emergency like a fire, where there is a need to evacuate a building, thought must be made for those that cannot simply walk down the stairs. The use of lifts during an emergency is, at best, restricted but more often than not prevented, which leaves the problem of evacuating those that are physically unable to walk unaided. A solution comes in the form of temporary area of safety for the disabled that is close access to a means of aided escape, which will retain a fire for a minimum of 30 minutes and will not hamper the escape of others. The person with the disability may be helped to the area and then will await assistance. During occupancy of the area the disabled person must be in direct communication with those in control of the situation; such as fire officers or building management. These spaces are known as ‘Refuge Areas’. A Refuge Area must meet certain safety criteria which are covered in the British Standard BS5588 part 8 (Fire Precautions in the design, construction and use of buildings – Code of practice for the means of escape for disabled people). This standard applies to “all buildings except single family dwelling houses, flats and maisonettes and buildings used as a house in multiple occupation”. BS5588 part 8 is not applicable to buildings purpose-built for the disabled, such as health care premises, which are covered by other Government guidelines. After providing suitable spaces for the refuge areas the issue of communication must now be resolved – as specified in BS5588 part 8. Clearly, placing a person within one of these areas without the means of two-way communication is out of the question. The wheelchair user in each refuge area must be able to communicate independently with fire officers/building management during occupancy of the refuge. Additionally, this two-way communication system must be readily operated by, and comprehensible to, disabled people. Communication between the Refuge Area and the building management is covered by another British Standard; BS5839 part 9 (Fire detection and fire alarm systems for buildings – Code of practice for emergency voice communication (EVC) systems). This standard details everything from the intended uses of an EVC system and the style of the outstations, to the fact that the system must be fully monitored and battery backed. EVC systems, as with Voice Alarm (VA) systems, must always be available during the event of an emergency. Therefore, as detailed in BS5839, the system must not fail even if a disruption occurs to the power supply or a break in the cable run is created during an emergency. PAVA Services standard disabled refuge product range is Omnicare, manufactured by Baldwin Boxall Communications Ltd. Contact us for a quotation. |
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Product Ranges & Services |
Featured Project |
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Heysham Power Station
We have just completed an installation using two of QSC Audio's RAVE 522ua units to link Heysham 1's Voice Alarm system to the sites simulator suite located in Heysham 2. |
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