Health and Safety: Access and Egress

Access to, and egress from, the workplace are fundamental aspects to the safe working conditions that should prevail within any workplace.  In shared accommodation, the landlord (or the building or facilities manager) is responsible for the premises as a whole, but also has special responsibility for the common areas of the premises.  These can be thought of the parts of the premises not demised to (or directly under the control of) individual tenants.  With respect to access and egress, these may typically include: car parking areas, external areas (roads, paths, lighting, refuse storage areas, etc), entrance doors, reception areas, corridors, staircases and lifts.

It is a basis requirement of the Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974 that employers and those in control, of premises provide and maintain a place of work that is safe and without risks to health, and provide and maintain means of access to, and egress from, it that are also safe and without risks to health.  Access and egress means the route through or means of entry to (or exit from) a workplace.  Egress routes also include means of emergency exit from workplaces.  Routes of access and egress can include: corridors, footpaths, pedestrian walkways, doorways, ladders, steps, etc.  The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 do not specifically mention access or egress from workplaces, although many of the provisions relate to the layout, construction and maintenance of the workplace fabric. The safety of access and egress routes is therefore implicit.

All roadways, paths, stairs, steps, etc. must be maintained in good condition and must not subject employees to risks to their health or safety.  They must be free from slipping and tripping hazards and suitable arrangements must be in place to prevent falls.  Further to this, the access and egress routes must be suitable illuminated and adequate arrangements made for emergency lighting.

Poor access/egress may lead to workplace accidents

It should be noted that about a third of all workplace accidents arise from slips, trips and falls.  Many of these accidents are due to poor housekeeping, but others arise from poor conditions, such as defects in the floor, poor lighting and spillages.  The Workplace, (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, require that every floor in a workplace shall be of a construction such that the floor is suitable for the purpose for which it is used.  They must also be of sound construction and should have adequate strength and stability taking account of the loads placed on them and the traffic passing over them. The surfaces of floors routes should be free from any hole, slope or uneven or slippery surface that could cause a person to slip, trip or fall or cause them to drop or lose control of anything being lifted or carried.  It follows then, that any holes, bumps or uneven areas resulting from damage or wear and tear, should be made good.

It is recommended that the condition of all walkways, roadways, staircases, steps, etc. is checked regularly, with suitable records kept.  Such checks should form part of the active monitoring regime of the occupier of the premises.  Checks should include visual examination of the ground for defects, wear and slipping and tripping hazards as well as checks on the operation and adequacy of the lighting and the condition of handrails, warning notices, etc.  All defects must be report and effective repairs undertaken by a competent person.

Main Entrances

The main routes into and out of the premises may take many forms, such as: ordinary swing doors, powered revolving doors, push revolving doors, automatic opening doors, etc. Where revolving or automatic doors are provided, alternatives means of access and egress should also be considered (for use in emergencies and in cases when these doors are out of service. Such doors are often accompanied by (lockable) ordinary doors, often along side the revolving or other door.

Doors

Doors and gates must be suitably constructed, and where necessary fitted with appropriate safety devices. In particular, sliding doors and gates must be fitted with devices to prevent them from leaving their tracks, upward opening doors and gates must be fitted with devices to prevent them from falling back, powered doors and gates must have suitable and effective means to prevent trapping type injuries and must be able to be operated manually unless they open automatically during a power failure, and doors and gates which are capable of being opened from either direction (swing doors, etc) must provide a clear view of both sides when closed.

Staircases, landings and corridors

Staircases should be in good condition, ideally with handrails on both sides of the staircase. The staircases, landings and corridors should be well lit, free from obstructions and slipping and tripping hazards. These areas should be checked regularly to ensure that they remain in good condition.

Where there are holes in the floor, suitable arrangements must be made taken against accidents (to prevent people from being injured as a consequence of the holes) until such time as they can be made good.  This may require the use of suitable barriers or of conspicuous markings and warning signs, or may be satisfied by the use of a temporary flooring, such as checker plate, laid over the defective section of flooring and adequately secured into position. 

Ramped pedestrian access

Ramped pedestrian access (especially when provided for disabled persons) should provide safe and secure access and egress. The ramp should not be too steep and consideration should be given to the provision of a handrail and to edge protection to stop users from falling off.

Lifts and lift motor rooms

Passenger lifts should be tested and inspected by a competent person at least once every six months although this frequency may be reduced to once in every twelve months for goods lifts that are not used to transport people (i.e. if their use is restricted to goods only), as required under the Lifting Operations Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER).

Suitable arrangements should be made for the servicing and maintenance of lifts and for the rescue of people trapped due to lift failure.  Lifts should be fitted with a suitable means of raising the alarm in the event of somebody being trapped. The alarm system should be tested regularly. Lift motor rooms should be clearly identified and should be kept locked and should only be accessed by competent persons (such as lift engineers). Hydraulic lifts should be bunded to contain any leakages of hydraulic oil and all lift motor equipment must be suitably guarded.

Spillages and leaks

Where a leak or spillage is likely to be a slipping hazard, immediate steps must be taken to fence it off, mop it up, or cover it with absorbent granules.  Warning signs should be displayed while the work is in progress and should be left in place until the floor area has dried and is no longer slippery.  In cases where spillages are foreseeable in the workplace, suitable arrangements must be made for clearing them up.  In most cases, this will involve some form of spillage response kit (stocked with suitable absorbent materials, appropriate PPE – such as gloves – warning signs, etc.)

Fixed vertical ladders, etc

Fixed vertical ladders are not usually acceptable as a means of access to a work area, although there are several obvious exceptions, including vertical ladders to elevated work platforms such as to tops of silos and access into vehicle inspection pits, etc.  In most cases, access is not required on a regular basis.

Fixed ladders should not be provided as a means of access in circumstances where it would be practical to install a staircase.  Access between floors should not normally be by way of ladders (or steep stairs), although these may be used where a conventional staircase cannot be accommodated, provided: they are only used by people who are capable of using them safely and any loads to be carried can be safely carried.  It should be noted that stairs are much safer than ladders; especially when loads are to be carried.

Where work areas are accessed via a fixed vertical ladder, it is recommended that a suitable self-closing gate is fitted at the top of the ladder to prevent people from accidentally falling down it. Fixed vertical ladders should also be subject to regular inspection and checks by a competent person.

Segregation of pedestrians from moving vehicles

All reasonably practicable steps should be taken to prevent pedestrians being injured by moving vehicles.  All access routes that are used by both pedestrians and vehicles should be wide enough to enable any vehicle likely to use the route to pass pedestrians safely.   Within buildings, lines should be drawn on the floor to indicate routes followed by vehicles (such as lift trucks).  In areas where routes naturally become narrower and/or more congested (such as doorways, gates, tunnels, bridges and other enclosed routes) the vehicles should be separated from the pedestrians by a suitable kerb or barrier. In factory and warehouse situations, it I recommended that separate routes through should be provided and that pedestrians should be guided to use the correct route by clear marking (and encouraged by active management). Such pedestrian routes should be kept unobstructed.

At points where pedestrian and vehicle routes cross, appropriate crossing points should be provided and should be used by the pedestrians.  Barriers or rails should be provided to prevent pedestrians crossing at particularly dangerous points and to guide them to designated safe crossing places.  At particularly dangerous crossing places, or where the volumes of traffic are particularly heavy, consideration should be given to the provision of suitable bridges or subways.

External areas and building façade

The external areas of the premises should be inspected regularly, including checks on the condition of the building façade and all structure attached to the building, such as lights, aerials, CCTV cameras, flagpoles, etc. Similarly, checks should be carried out for all external areas, including car parking areas, roads and footpaths, fencing, lighting, etc. Any defects should be addressed and made safe.

Fire escape routes

Fire escape routes must be kept clear and in a good state of repair. In some instances, these may include external metal staircases and even over the roof escape routes that pass into or through other premises. Such routes should be physically inspected on a regular basis to ensure that they have not been compromised.

Active monitoring of premises

It is recommended that the premises are monitored regularly to ensure that all access routes and equipment are in good condition and are free from obstructions and tripping hazards. This is best achieved by a physical tour of the premises addressing issues at the time (where possible) and feeding requesting and information back to tenants and other occupiers as appropriate. Appropriate steps must be taken to resolve issues that could not be put right during the inspection of the premises. 

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