PEEPS: Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans

Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans

What is a PEEP?

A PEEP is a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan, which is a bespoke escape plan for individuals who may have difficulties evacuating a building to a place of safety without support or assistance from others in the event of a fire safety emergency.

A PEEP is a legal requirement

Owners, residents and managers of buildings have a legal duty to make sure that all relevant persons, who are those persons legally on the premises, can reach a place of safety. Legislation describes a place of safety as a place in which are in no immediate danger from the effects of a fire.

Who needs a PEEP?

Students requiring PEEPs may have one or more conditions that will affect their ability to process evacuation cues or to react appropriately to those cues. Where an individual identifies that this is likely to be an issue, a PEEP may need to be developed.

PEEPs may be required for any hall resident with:

• mobility conditions
• sight conditions
• hearing conditions
• neurodiversity or mental health conditions
• other circumstances that may affect a person’s ability to evacuate (this could include people with underlying health conditions, people who are pregnant or those who have a short-term injury, such as a broken leg).

Questions to ask yourself

The key question to answer is “are you able to evacuate the building independently in the event of an emergency?”

Some of the things to consider are

• Would you be able to hear the fire alarm at all times?
• Could you exit the building unaided or would you require aids to help you? (e.g. a wheelchair)
• Do you have any cognitive or learning difficulties that could impede you from evacuating the building in an emergency?

Based on your answers to these you should be able to evaluate if a PEEP is required.

Talk to us

If you wish to discuss anything to do with a PEEP in our halls, please contact the Student Living team.