The importance of evacuation chair refresher training

In many workplaces that we visit, evacuation chair refresher training has been neglected. Consequently, their evacuation chairs have become expensive wall decorations. Staff were typically trained when the items were first installed – some 5 or 10 years ago. Since then, in the absence of emergencies, they have often sat unused. Some of the trained staff have left the company, and others have moved role and location. Those that remain no longer have the skills and associated confidence to use the chairs in an emergency. Evacuation chair refresher training is the missing element.

The competent use of an evacuation chair is a perishable skill. Confidence is required to push another human being off a landing and onto a set of stairs. This confidence will only be maintained through regular practice and refresher training. After comprehensive initial training, we suggest a quick practice every quarter or at least 6 months. This could be as simple as 3 participants and one chair to make sure they can remember how to set it up, get someone in and negotiate the stairs. This could take as little as 15 minutes, and the equipment will typically also benefit from regular use and the associated pre-use inspection. More comprehensive evacuation chair refresher training could be conducted annually.

In order to build that initial confidence and competence with evacuation chairs, we run a half-day Evacuation Chair Operators course. We find that this is long enough to enable plenty of practical work and build confidence. If you want to equip your staff to train future evac chair operators, we also run the 1-day IOSH Evacuation Chair Train the Trainer course. This can be a cost-effective solution to your ongoing training needs. It is especially useful if you have a regular turnover of staff or need to train temporary staff who are present to cater for large events.