CareHomeDeskCareHomeDeskThe Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires that evacuation arrangements account for all persons who may be unable to self-evacuate. For care homes, this means a documented PEEP for every resident whose evacuation requires specific support.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to ensure that evacuation arrangements account for everyone who may be present, including those who cannot self-evacuate without assistance. In a care home, where a significant proportion of residents may have mobility, sensory or cognitive impairments, this translates into a requirement for individual, documented evacuation arrangements rather than a single generic procedure applied to everyone.
A PEEP for an individual resident should specify their mobility and cognitive status as it affects evacuation, the specific assistance and equipment they need, how many staff are required and their approximate location and route, any equipment such as an evacuation chair required, and what to do if the primary escape route is unavailable. It should be reviewed whenever the resident's condition or the building layout changes, not left static from admission.
A generic 'progressively horizontal evacuation' statement describing the general strategy of moving residents to an adjoining fire compartment does not tell staff what to actually do for a specific resident who cannot walk unaided, is bed-bound, or has severe dementia and may resist evacuation. Fire and Rescue Services have increasingly drawn a clear distinction between a building-level evacuation strategy and the individual plans required for residents who need them.
Where a Fire and Rescue Service attends a care home and finds that individual evacuation plans are missing or generic for residents who clearly require specific support, this is now a common basis for an Enforcement Notice. Because the requirement applies per resident, a provider with multiple residents lacking adequate PEEPs can face multiple related findings from a single visit.
PEEPs should be reviewed at every care plan review and immediately following any significant change in a resident's condition, and must be readily accessible to staff and to attending fire crews during an incident -- typically summarised on a personal evacuation information sheet kept with the care plan and, in many homes, duplicated in a grab-file or a system accessible to night staff.
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