Do you know your GEEPs from your PEEPs?

General Emergency Evacuation Plans (GEEPs) and Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans(PEEPs) are legal requirements.

As an employer in control of a building, you must develop and implement appropriate procedures to safely evacuate all people likely to be in the premises, including people with disabilities or who are otherwise impaired, whether permanently or temporarily.

General Emergency Evacuation Plan

A GEEP outlines a building’s layout, evacuation procedures, and the equipment and communication devices used during emergencies.

These are specifically designed to provide essential information to those with restricted mobility or who cannot evacuate unaided, the information they need to evacuate safely and effectively.  In other words, it can be said a GEEP is provided for disabled occasional or uncontrolled visitors to your premises.

In public buildings, GEEPs must be prominently displayed for all residents and guests.

Key elements, such as evacuation procedures, should be visible with notices for those requiring assistance. Regular drills and a system to test these methods are essential to ensure that all occupants are familiar with the procedures and have adequate training and knowledge of the building’s layout, evacuation, and fire-fighting equipment.

Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans

PEEPs are individualised plans that supplement the overall building evacuation and address any specific needs of any person who may require assistance to evacuate a given premises in an emergency.

Disabilities or temporary conditions may cause people to have a variety of impairments. These may affect mobility, visual, hearing or cognitive abilities. Such impairments will often make evacuating a building in an emergency safely and in a reasonable time more challenging. Arrangements that may facilitate the evacuation of people with impairments may include:

• Adapted alarm systems
• Adapted fire instructions
• Improved signage and orientation aids in the building
• Additional handrails
• Refuge points
• Evacuation lifts
• The provision of staff assistance

A PEEP should be developed with the individual concerned, considering their needs, existing building features and the available staff resources. This plan will include:

• Who is it for?
• Method of alerting the person concerned about the evacuation requirement (alarm arrangements.
• Persons designated to assist (if relevant)
• The methods of assistance required
• The equipment provided
• The evacuation procedure
• The safe route(s) to be used

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