Your four plans need to work for everyone in the building, not just the people who can walk quickly and hear an announcement. That includes wheelchair users, older people, parents with young children, and people who are deaf, blind or find crowds hard.
The Home Office's guidance doesn't set out separate rules for this. It asks for plans that fit your venue, "avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach" (statutory guidance, para 7.21), with information that's "simple and clear" (para 7.48). ProtectUK, the police's advice service, is more direct: make personal plans for staff and visitors with disabilities in an emergency that isn't a fire, and name the people who'll help them (ProtectUK).
Most of the practical advice below comes from GOV.UK's guide to means of escape for disabled people. It's written for fire, so use it alongside your plans for an attack, not instead of them.
So you don't need to invent your own rules or signs. Start from what your fire risk assessment already sets out, such as escape routes, refuges and who helps whom, and add what's different when the danger is outside.
Who might need help
- People who use a wheelchair, a frame or a stick, or who walk slowly.
- Older people, and anyone unwell or injured on the day.
- Parents with pushchairs, and young children.
- People who are deaf or hard of hearing, who may not hear an announcement.
- People who are blind or partially sighted.
- People with a learning disability, autism or dementia, or who find noise and crowds hard.
- People whose needs you can't see. Let anyone ask for help, rather than guessing.
In each of your plans
Get everyone out (evacuation)
- Name who helps whom. GOV.UK's guidance says a buddy system shouldn't be left to chance: agree it in advance.
- Allow more time. Not everyone can get out in two or three minutes, and some people need to rest on the way.
- Don't rely on the emergency services to get people out. Plan to do it yourselves.
- Never leave anyone waiting on their own. Someone stays with them.
- Remember that in an attack, the guidance suggests moving people away rather than gathering in one place (para 7.36). Plan routes that people who move slowly can use too.
Bring everyone in (invacuation)
- Pick a safer room people can reach without stairs, if you can.
- Have someone ready to help people in from outside: the garden, the car park, the playground.
Lock down (lockdown)
- Keep people together, with someone they know nearby.
- Think about who might find it frightening, such as children or someone with dementia, and who will stay with them.
Keep people informed (communication)
- Use more than one way to tell people. ProtectUK says your plan must alert everyone, "including those with impairments": spoken words, signs, a message, or someone telling people face to face.
- Tell deaf people directly. They may not hear an alarm or an announcement.
- Use plain words. Code words only work for the people who know them, so tell visitors plainly what to do.
Knowing who's in the building
- For staff, volunteers and regular visitors who need help, write a short personal plan with them: who helps, which way, and what they need.
- For people visiting now and then, have a standard plan ready, and offer it discreetly at the door or when they book.
- Don't assume. Ask people what they need, and respect their choices. GOV.UK's guidance says not to make assumptions about the abilities of wheelchair users.
- Ask your hirers whether anyone at their event will need help, so the plan works on their night too. Our page for hirers covers what else to tell them.
Briefing the helpers
Everyone with a part to play needs to know who they're helping and how. ProtectUK says disabled staff should have their own plans and be briefed individually. Include it in your briefings, and check again when people change.
Other duties still apply
Martyn's Law doesn't replace other law. The Home Office's guidance says venues may also have duties under the Equality Act 2010 (para 1.7).
A made-up example
The lunch club at Millbrook Village Hall has around forty older members, and four use walking frames. The committee names a volunteer to help each of them, agrees that the side door has no step and leads away from the road, and makes sure someone stays with anyone who needs to rest. Because two members are hard of hearing, the person in charge tells them face to face rather than relying on an announcement.
Where to read more
- ProtectUK: evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and protected spaces
- GOV.UK: fire safety risk assessment, means of escape for disabled people
- Home Office: statutory guidance, chapter 7, on procedures
General information, not legal advice.