Disabled
people, like everyone else, should always have, available,
safe means of escape in the event of fire.
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) came into effect
on 1st October 2004. One of the recommendations is the
procedures for the safe evacuation of disabled persons
under emergency conditions.
It states that a communication system must be available
from each of the Refuge areas to the person controlling
the evacuation of the building, identifying the source
of origin of the call. This is detailed in BS5588: Part
8: 1988.
As there was no standard or code of practice for such
a communication system, BS5839: Part 9: 2003 was introduced.
Channel Safety Systems have developed a Refuge Call System
which is fully compliant to the code of practice BS5839:
Part 9: 2003, exceeding the recommendations in many cases.
It was felt that in a loop wired system the remote units
MUST still operate under any cable condition whether the
data highway be OPEN or SHORT circuit cable. Channel Safety
Systems meet this further requirement.
