Safety devices for handicapped needed urgently

Press, 23 January 1984, Page 26

Safety devices for handicapped needed urgently

Wellington reporter Plans to make fire escapes safer for the disabled are being considered by the Standards Association and Accident Compensation Commission. New audio and visual equipment is expected to be installed in most lifts in the future. It will include a television screen with a voice which will tell the occupants where they are. Outside the lift there will be visual and audio indicators—one bell for up and two for down. But the needs of the blind, the deaf, and those in wheelchairs were seen as the most urgent by the Access Code Revision Committee of the Standards Associa-

tion. Ideas considered include: • Installing “glide-tone” alarms (with a tone wobble) so that the deaf can become aware of them. • Prohibiting the installation of alarms by exits where the overwhelming ■ sound tends to confuse blind people. • Making all entrances and exits wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair. ® Requiring all building owners to have a management code for getting people out of the building. ® Establishing a fire “refuge” area big enough to accommodate one wheelchair in the lift lobby or beside the stairs. • Fire-proofing all lift wells.