White Paper 'Risky Business'

3 May 2023

Introducing our White Paper 'Risky Business' - highlighting how the safety and lives of the UK's mobility impaired workforce, and those living with access barriers, are at risk in an emergency evacuation.

A new report lays bare how the safety and lives of the UK’s disabled workforce, and those dealing with access barriers, are at risk in an emergency.

Risky Business, the study from Evac+Chair International, found that one quarter of UK business decision makers do not know how many disabled and mobility impaired people there are within their organisation. Almost a third (29 per cent) have only “some” or “very little” understanding of their responsibilities, with one in 10 either not prepared, or unsure if they are adequately prepared, to safely evacuate employees needing assistance.

An overwhelming 82 per cent of organisations are calling on the Government to provide more clarity on their responsibilities surrounding fire safety, while more than two thirds (67 per cent) think that evacuation equipment should be a legal requirement.

Gerard Wallace, Managing Director of Evac+Chair International, said:

“There are more than 4.8m disabled people in UK workplaces and this figure is rising. Those responsible for their safety are falling short, with a clear lack of knowledge, understanding and investment amplifying risk in emergency situations.

“Despite recent tragedies highlighting how important it is to be prepared to safely evacuate everyone from multistorey buildings, our findings show that safe evacuations for all clearly needs to move higher up the agenda. Our report makes the case to the Government for better education and a firmer legal landscape.”

Last year, disabled campaigners launched a legal challenge against the Government for failing to implement the Grenfell Tower inquiry’s call for evacuation plans for disabled people in high-rise buildings. The decision is expected imminently.