A Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) is used to document how people will be evacuated when they have difficulty responding to a fire alarm or escaping from a building unaided, in the event of an emergency.

  • A PEEP should name which adults support a pupil to evacuate for all possible sessions of the day, and all areas of the school used. This could be the same person for all sessions, or it may be different people depending on how staffing is organised.
  • It must be read and signed by all staff who are named in the PEEP.
  • It should be read and signed by parents/carers.
  • The young person should understand what is in their PEEP and what would happen in the event of an evacuation.
  • All staff named in the PEEP should have the appropriate training (e.g., moving and handling, person specific transfers, evacuation equipment) to carry out a safe evacuation.
  • It should be updated at least annually, or when there is a change of rooms, staff, or in the pupil’s condition.

What might the PEEP include?

  • The route this young person takes to evacuate the building. This may need to be different to their peers or have a different muster point to their peers.
  • The type of assistance required, e.g., to walk at the back of the line to be able to maintain a safe pace.
  • If a pupil uses a specialist class chair in school and has a wheelchair, they need to transfer back into the wheelchair to evacuate. This means the wheelchair should always be within easy reach of where the pupil is working.
  • If the child uses a specialist piece of equipment such as a stander, the PEEP should state what should happen if they are in this and the alarm goes off.
  • Does the pupil require any medication or grab bag (might include snacks or space blanket to keep warm) to be collected. The PEEP should state what is needed to be collected and by whom.

Evacuation from any non-ground floor rooms

  • If the evacuation requires the use of an evacuation chair or mat, this needs to be agreed with the physiotherapist, and person-specific advice sought from the moving and handling advisor.
  • Staff who are named in the PEEP need to have been trained on how to use the equipment in school. This may need to be followed up with the person-specific moving and handling advice to support the young person to get into the equipment safely.
  • Until the training for safe use of the equipment and any person specific training has taken place, pupils should not access upstairs rooms. Alternative arrangements to access these lessons should be put in place.
  • It is schools' responsibility to ensure they have enough specialist equipment and trained staff to evacuate all the children who have a PEEP. This is particularly crucial for non-ground floor evacuations.