Clear Routes, Shared Responsibility: Evacuation Planning for Every UK Workplace

An evacuation plan is only as good as its weakest assumption. In many UK workplaces, that assumption is that everyone will hear the alarm, use the nearest staircase and leave without assistance. For some disabled employees, visitors and contractors, that is simply not the reality. A personal emergency evacuation plan, usually called a PEEP, closes the gap between a generic fire procedure and the specific needs of an individual. It should be treated as part of ordinary fire safety management, not as a special favour or an afterthought.

The legal picture is familiar. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess risks and put sensible arrangements in place. Fire safety legislation across the UK places duties on responsible persons to manage evacuation. The Equality Act 2010 adds a reasonable adjustment duty in employment and service delivery. A PEEP is one practical way to meet those overlapping obligations in 2026, particularly in hybrid workplaces where attendance patterns change from week to week.

Start with the risk assessment, not the form

A PEEP should flow from the fire risk assessment and from a private conversation with the person concerned. It should not begin with a medical questionnaire circulated to all staff. The useful question is not 'What is your diagnosis?' but 'What would help you leave this building safely, and what would make that harder?' That keeps the focus on the workplace, the route and the support required.

Record only what is necessary. A plan might note that someone needs a voice alarm, a visual alarm, a refuge point, a trained colleague to assist, a longer evacuation time, or an alternative route because a lift cannot be used in a fire. It might note that someone works alone on a remote site or visits several buildings. Sensitive detail should be held confidentially, shared only with those who need it for safety, and reviewed when circumstances change.

A practical template for the plan itself

A workable PEEP does not need to be long. It should answer a small set of operational questions:

• Who is the plan for, and which site or sites does it cover?
• What alarm or alert method works for this person?
• What is the primary route, and what is the fallback if that route is blocked?
• Which refuge or meeting point applies, and how will communication be maintained there?
• What assistance is needed, if any, and who has agreed to provide it?
• Which role, rather than which individual, confirms that the person has left or is safely accounted for?
• When will the plan be reviewed, and what changes would trigger an earlier review?

That last point matters. A plan that is written once and never revisited is a filing exercise, not a safety measure. Reviews should be triggered by a change of desk, floor, building, shift pattern, equipment, line manager or working arrangement.

The gaps that catch teams out

Hybrid working is a common blind spot. A PEEP may be accurate for a Tuesday but silent about a Friday, when the person is on a different floor or the usual fire marshal is at home. Attendance patterns should be visible to those coordinating evacuation support, without turning every calendar into a public document. A simple weekly check for fire marshal cover is usually enough.

Lone working deserves separate attention. Someone working alone in a satellite office, a studio or a client site may need a check-in arrangement, a means of raising the alarm and a named contact who will notice if they do not respond. Visitors need a route too. A short, respectful pre-visit question, an offer to discuss access needs, and a reception protocol for temporary PEEPs can prevent a difficult situation at the alarm point. Contractors and event attendees should be included in the same thinking.

Assign responsibilities without singling anyone out

Support arrangements work best when they are built around roles rather than personalities. Nominate evacuation support leads and backup leads as part of fire marshal duties. Train them in the practicalities: using a refuge, communicating clearly, following instructions from the fire service and respecting the person's preferences. Make the offer of a PEEP available to everyone through induction, return-to-work conversations and internal accessibility pages, using neutral language such as 'If you would like a personal evacuation plan, or think you may need assistance, contact us confidentially.'

Avoid publishing a list of disabled staff on fire action notices. Avoid assuming that a colleague with a disability is automatically the person who needs assistance, or that a colleague without one cannot. The aim is a routine, private process that produces a clear operational plan, not a public label.

Rehearse the plan, then revise it

Fire drills often test the fastest route for the majority. They should also test the arrangements that support everyone else. Vary drill times to reflect shift patterns and hybrid attendance. Walk the route with the person if they are willing, check refuge communication, confirm that alarm systems reach all relevant areas and test the backup arrangements when the usual fire marshal is absent. Do not use disabled employees as test subjects; involve them as participants in designing and improving the procedure.

After each drill or real incident, record what worked and what did not. A blocked refuge, a missing key, an unclear meeting point or a colleague who did not know they were a backup are all useful findings. They should feed back into the fire risk assessment and into the next review.

Make it part of the everyday

Evacuation planning should sit alongside onboarding, desk moves, building works, event planning and contractor induction. When it becomes routine, it stops being a difficult conversation about one person's needs and becomes a normal question about how the organisation looks after everyone. That is the Enable UK approach: practical arrangements, clear responsibilities and inclusive systems that work before an emergency, not only during one.