Personal emergency escape/evacuation

In the United Kingdom many of the offshore regulatory requirements are handled through the Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response (PFEER) Regulations. They require that duty holders provide adequate arrangements for escape, evacuation, rescue, and recovery of persons involved in an incident. 

PEEP Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan RSET Required Safe Escape Time... 

Staff must be instructed in the means of escape from their place of work, including the normal and emergency exits. Evacuation drills should be carried out at least annually and under various conditions chosen to represent real fire situations. Special consideration must be given to disabled persons and to visitors who will be unfamiliar with the layout of the building. In large establishments a number of fire wardens may be appointed from among the staff to assist in the evacuation and the checking of rooms. 

Hold a briefing for entry personnel and support crew. Ensure that all staff on scene understand emergency signals, preplanned escape routes, locations of Hot/Warm/ Cold zones, operational hazards at this site, the evacuation system, the buddy system, the need for appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) the potential need to decontaminate rescuers and their equipment, and contaminated persons location of rehabilitation area, possible air space closure over incident site, etc. 

Personal protective equipment should be available for evacuation, such as 5-minute escape air packs, and for normal operations or for reentry into an area in which a chemical emergency has occurred. Among other items needed would be positive-pressure, supplied-air units, protective clothing, goggles, gloves, head covers and shoe covers, appropriate to the conditions. These should be available so that they could be accessed quickly. However except for the escape air packs, they should be stored outside the immediate area so that they would remain accessible in the event of an incident. 

When a person has become aware of an emergency they may react, for example, by spending time thinking about what they should do or by starting to move. This decision will be based upon how seriously they see the risk and how much time they think they may have to evacuate. It can be seen that individual perception is therefore critical to overall escape time. 

Larger numbers may affect the ability of the escape routes to cope in an emergency >- Ages of the persons who may resort to the premises such as children or elderly persons who may require additional assistance for evacuation > Those with disabilities who may not be able to evacuate on their own, hear the fire alarm or otherwise respond. 

---