Building evacuations

Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP)

What is a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan?

A Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan or PEEP is a plan which identifies the impact a disability or condition has on your ability to evacuate during an emergency. It will identify action you need to take and the support or assistance you require during an emergency evacuation in the buildings you use on campus.   

How do I get a PEEP?  

Disability Service will identify that you require a PEEP in your Personal Learning Support Plan (PLSP) and notify your academic school. The PLSP is a document which outlines the support and adjustments you require during your study because of a disability or condition. A member of staff in your academic school will be nominated to meet with you to develop the PEEP and they will write up the actions agreed. 

What about when I am on placement? 

You must speak to your placement provider to ask for a PEEP for your workplace.  

Will I need to review my PEEP? 

You can request a review of your PEEP if your circumstances change, for example: 

• There is a change in the impact of the disability or condition, or you develop a new condition which impacts on an evacuation.  
• There is a change to the nature of your work or study locations. 
• There are changes to the buildings you are using. 

To request a review, please email the person who carried out the original PEEP or Disability Services.  

Please see the individual sections relating to different disabilities for guidance on what you may need to consider when your PEEP is produced.  

Emergency evacuation procedures

• Emergency evacuation alarms – are located throughout all buildings on the University campus and will sound in the event of an emergency evacuation.
• Visual alarms – are located throughout all the University buildings and will flash in the event of an emergency evacuation. Typically, the visual alarms consist of a red flashing light in addition to the wall-mounted evacuation alarm sounder and a white flashing light incorporated into the combined ceiling mounted automatic fire detector and sounder devices. 
• Signage – is situated throughout every University building and indicates the route you should follow in an emergency evacuation.
• Refuge areas – are places of relative safety where you can pause or rest during an emergency evacuation and are signed in each building. They are typically situated within staircases, although this may not be the case for all buildings.  The refuge areas can be found on the Accessible Building Plans which provide the plan for each floor of every University building and show you the location of the refuge areas. The plans also indicate what kind of communication device is in the refuge area, where there is a device located in the area. Please pass on your location to the person responding to your communication. Alternatively, you can ring the Security Hub and pass on your location. Please add their number to the contacts on your mobile phone: 01484 472222 for use in an emergency only. This is strongly recommended as not all refuge areas have a communication device.  

Evacuation and mobility or physical difficulties

Action to take  

Please familiarise yourself with the location of refuge points and level emergency exits in the buildings you use by looking at the Accessible Building Plans. If you can independently evacuate, including if you need to pause or rest, or if you prefer to wait and evacuate after others have moved ahead, you can follow the signage to guide your exit route and use the refuge points as rest areas. Familiarise yourself with the assembly points once you have left the building.  

What to consider ahead of a discussion about your PEEP? 

• Do you use any mobility aids which may help or not during an evacuation – e.g. a walking stick, crutches, a walking frame, a wheelchair etc? 
• Can you evacuate independently using stairs and any existing support such as handrails? Can you sometimes evacuate independently but not always? 
• Can you evacuate independently if you have a level exit route? 
• Can you evacuate independently within three minutes of the start of the evacuation alarm? 
• If you are evacuating, will you need to pause or stop for a period of time mid evacuation? 
• If you use a wheelchair, are you able to get out of the wheelchair to evacuate? (E.g. can you get downstairs using the handrail, can you evacuate by sliding downstairs on your bottom or could you transfer to an Evacuation chair?) 
• Will you need to remain in as safe as space as possible such as a refuge area until assistance arrives to help you evacuate? 

Evacuation if you are D/deaf or hearing impaired

Action to take 

Please familiarise yourself with the emergency exit routes from the buildings you use. Whenever you are on campus, be alert to the actions of those around you and leave a building when you see others doing so. Let your tutors and friends know if you think you will struggle to hear the emergency alarm, so they can let you know if the emergency evacuation alarm is sounding.  

If you use a hearing aid or an app which is designed to listen for emergency evacuations, please use this at all times when on campus. Please be aware if you set your phone to ‘noise cancelling’ mode, the listening app will not work. If you do not already have a listening app, you are strongly advised to obtain one to support you in an emergency evacuation. Here are two examples of listening apps: 

1. Recognize sounds using iPhone – Apple Support (UK) 
2. Get Sound Notifications on your phone - Android accessibility Help (google.com) 

Please take a sensible approach when on campus by yourself – for example to sit in an area where they are with other people and where you have sight of a visual alarm. If you are not able to do this, do not set any hearing devices to ‘do not disturb’. Where possible, alert University staff to your location – e.g. if you are sitting in an isolated part of library, let the Library Warder know your location. 

What to consider ahead of a discussion about your PEEP? 

• Will you be able to hear the emergency alarm? 
• Is your ability to hear the emergency alarm dependent on whether you are wearing hearing aids or not? 
• Will you be able to recognise from the reaction of others around you that an evacuation is taking place?  
• Could there be situations where you may be alone on campus and no one else is aware of your presence or location to alert you to an emergency evacuation?  
• Do you use any mobile listening apps to alert you to emergency alarms? 

Evacuation if you are blind or visually impaired

Action to take 

Please familiarise yourself with the location of refuge points and level emergency exits in the buildings you use by accessing the Accessible Building Plans. If you can independently evacuate, including if you need to pause or rest, or if you prefer to wait and evacuate after others have moved ahead, this information will assist you to evacuate. Familiarise yourself with the assembly points once you have left the building.  

If you work with a Support Worker on campus, have a conversation with them about what assistance you may need during an emergency evacuation and share your PEEP with them.  

What to consider ahead of a discussion about your PEEP? 

• Can you follow emergency evacuation signs? 
• Can you safely and independently leave the building using the stairs with the use of assistance such as a cane, guide dog or using handrails? 
• Will you require the assistance of a sighted guide to evacuate a building? 
• Can you independently evacuate a building within three minutes? 
• Will you need to pause or rest when evacuating a building? 
• Will you need to remain in as safe a space as possible (such as a refuge area) until assistance arrives to help you evacuate?

Evacuation and medical or cognitive conditions

Action to take 

Please familiarise yourself with the location of refuge points and level emergency exits in the buildings you use by looking at the Accessible Building Plans. If you can independently evacuate, including if you need to pause or rest, or if you prefer to wait and evacuate after others have moved ahead, this information will assist you to evacuate. It may help you to practice the evacuation routes until they become more familiar. Familiarise yourself with the assembly points once you have left the building. 

What to consider ahead of a discussion about your PEEP? 

• Could your evacuation be impacted by a medical or cognitive condition and in what way? Will it slow down your evacuation for example? Will you need to rest or pause? Will it cause you to panic? 
• Will the impact of a medical or cognitive condition affect your use of stairs during an evacuation? 
• Will your medical or cognitive condition always or sometimes impact on an evacuation? 
• Will you need to remain in as safe a space as possible (such as a refuge area) until assistance arrives to help you evacuate? 

Emergency evacuation in the Library

Check the Accessible Building Plans for Schwann Building – which is where the Library and Computing Centre is located.  

The assembly point for the Library and Computing Centre is outside the Harold Wilson Building. 

If you need to remain in a refuge area in an emergency until assistance arrives alert the Security Hub to your location by pressing the communication device or ringing. Please save the number in your mobile phone for use in this emergency – 01484 472222     

Library and Computing Centre– Schwann Building 

Floor 2  

• Accessible emergency exit by the online learning suite facing Firth Street canal and Charles Sikes building. 
• If the emergency exit is blocked, locate the refuge point in the stairwell next to lift. 

Floor 3 

• Refuge point located in the stairwell next to the lift or in the main stairwell.   

Floor 4 

• No refuge point as this is the level at which you exit the building. Exit through the main Library entrance to the assembly point outside Harold Wilson Building. 

Floor 5 - the area near to the Library Lift  

• Refuge point located in the stairwell next to the lift or main stairwell.  
• Alternative refuge point located reached from Scholars Rest, via the door into the staff room corridor.  

Floor 6   

• Refuge point located in the main stairwell or stairwell near the male toilets on floor 6.  
• Alternative refuge point in the corridor leading to the accessible lift.