As summer draws to a close and workplaces settle back into routine, September is the ideal time to reset and refocus on health, safety, and environmental priorities. The changing season brings new challenges, from darker mornings to increased workloads, and it’s important to ensure that teams, systems, and sites are prepared.
Back to Routine, Back to Basics
With many employees returning from holidays, September offers an opportunity to reinforce a strong safety culture. Refreshing toolbox talks, reviewing risk assessments, and ensuring staff are fully briefed helps to prevent complacency and sets the tone for the final quarter of the year.
Seasonal Safety Considerations
Supporting Wellbeing
September is also recognised for World Suicide Prevention Day (10th September), which highlights the importance of workplace wellbeing. Employers can take this as an opportunity to review mental health support, signpost resources, and promote open conversations. A healthy, supported workforce is also a safer one.
Environmental Focus for Autumn
A Time to Reset
September is more than just the start of autumn — it’s a natural checkpoint for businesses to ensure they are on track with health, safety, and environmental goals. By refreshing policies, preparing for seasonal risks, and supporting employee wellbeing, organisations can step into the final months of the year with confidence.
Contact us if you wish to discuss your health and safety requirements.
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to put our own wellbeing at the bottom of the list. We push through busy schedules, endless responsibilities, and the constant noise of modern life—often without stopping to think about how we truly feel. Yet, our wellbeing is the foundation for everything else we do.
When we take care of ourselves—physically, mentally, and emotionally—we’re not only healthier, but also more resilient, focused, and better equipped to handle life’s challenges. Investing in wellbeing isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity that helps us thrive rather than simply survive.
Contact us if you wish to find out more.
At Walker Health and Safety Services Limited, we believe in giving back to the community we’re proud to call home. Supporting Telford & Wrekin Council’s volunteering schemes—including Street Champions and Snow Wardens—is a fantastic way to make a visible impact, strengthen community bonds, and boost your wellbeing.
But it’s not just for individuals. Businesses, too, can sign up as Street Champions and become local leaders in community pride.
Whether you’re a resident, a family, or a local business, you can become a Street Champion and help keep Telford & Wrekin clean and litter-free.
By signing up, your business or organisation can take ownership of a street, park, or local space and receive equipment and support to organise clean‑ups.
What’s provided:
– Free kit for each volunteer: high‑vis vest, gloves, litter picker, hoop, waste sacks
– Insurance cover while volunteering
– Support from the Council for collecting rubbish after your clean-ups
– Option to take part in wider campaigns like the Great British Spring Clean
Why your business should join:
– Boost your CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) profile
– Show commitment to your local environment
– Great team-building opportunity
– Gain positive local publicity
– Build relationships with the community
Sign up: Telford & Wrekin Council | Street Champions
Email: pride.officer@telford.gov.uk | Phone: 01952 380455
Snow Wardens are volunteers who help keep public footpaths and pavements safe during icy and snowy weather. This is particularly valuable in helping elderly or vulnerable residents stay safe and mobile.
Your business can encourage team members to sign up individually—or adopt areas near your premises to clear as part of your winter preparedness and community support.
What’s provided:
– High-vis vest, gloves, shovel, rock salt
– Support and updates during adverse weather
– Council insurance while volunteering
Sign up: Telford & Wrekin Council | Snow wardens
Email: snowwardens@telford.gov.uk | Phone: 01952 380455
Volunteering isn’t just about the task—it’s about the people you meet and the sense of pride you gain. Whether you’re picking litter with your team, helping during the snow, or joining a borough-wide event like the Great British Spring Clean, you’ll:
– Meet like-minded people
– Boost morale and well-being
– Make a real difference in your neighbourhood
– Get a bit of exercise and fresh air in the process!
More and more businesses are stepping up to show pride in their communities. Becoming a Street Champion business is a fantastic way to lead by example, engage your team, and contribute to the place you trade, work, and live.
Imagine the benefits:
– Featuring your team’s efforts on your social media and website
– Receiving recognition in community newsletters
– Strengthening your brand’s reputation for environmental and social responsibility
You could even sponsor a regular clean-up, adopt a local green space, or partner with a local school or care home for a joint event.
Whether you’re picking up litter, clearing snow, or just spreading the word, your contribution matters. Businesses have a unique opportunity to lead the way—so why not register today and show your community spirit?
At Walker Health and Safety Services Limited, we’ll be joining in—and we hope to see you out there with us!
Contact us if you would like further information, or want to invite us along.
People escape to fire exit door
How long should it take to evacuate your premises in the event of a fire?
Fire safety practitioners are often asked, particularly after a fire drill, how long it should take to evacuate the premises.
What, on the face of it, appears to be a simple question has quite a complex answer, particularly in view of the UK’s risk-based fire safety regime.
Those responsible for fire safety need to know what would be deemed to be a safe evacuation time and the factors that influence this.
Legislation, such as the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRFSO), does not prescribe any evacuation times. Rather, the RRFSO states that “in the event of danger, it must be possible for persons to evacuate the premises as quickly and as safely as possible”.
The reason for this is that, unlike fire certification arrangements under the old regime, where each certificate was building specific, the RRFSO applies to a wide range of buildings, therefore making it impossible to prescribe evacuation times.
Guidance to the RRFSO does contain further information on evacuation times. For example, guidance for office environments notes that “escape routes in a building should be designed so that people can escape quickly enough to ensure they are not placed in any danger from fire”.
The key phrase here is “should be designed”. This clearly indicates that designers of buildings need to consider the design of the means of escape as part of the overall design of the property so that occupants can move to a place of reasonable and/or total safety before the conditions in the property become untenable.
Certainly, designers should be following the requirements of the respective Building Regulations and associated guidance such as that contained in Approved Document B: Fire safety, BS9999:2017 Fire Safety in the Design, Management and Use of Buildings and BS ISO 20414:2020 Fire Safety Engineering. Verification and Validation Protocol for Building Fire Evacuation Models.
It is key that the fire safety practitioner responsible for fire evacuation in a property as occupied has access to and can share necessary information in relation to the design of the means of escape are provided.
Although this information will not provide an exact evacuation time, it will enable:
This information is particularly important given the current emphasis on the “golden thread” of information approach for buildings that is recommended following a review into the Grenfell fire.
Human behaviour
It is widely recognised that up to two-thirds of actual evacuation time consists of occupants delaying when the evacuation signal is given.
These factors are built into what are known as the:
For safe evacuation to occur, the ASET must be significantly longer than the RSET. There are a number of factors that will affect the RSET and ASET. These include the time:
In theory the fire safety practitioner should be able to rely on the RSET and ASET and be confident that the evacuation time will be within this scope.
However, there are many factors that may affect the RSET and ASET in “real world” conditions, not least:
If occupants are unable to evacuate in a timely manner this could result in a breach of relevant fire safety legislation and increase the risk of injury or death.
PAS 79-1:2020 Fire Risk Assessment. Premises Other Than Housing. Code of Practice, notes that “an assessment should be made of the likely consequences of fire”.
The assessment should “understand that all persons within the premises should be able to reach a place of ultimate safety before life threatening conditions arise; either unaided or with the assistance of staff — without FRS assistance (RSET versus ASET)”.
In assessing this aspect, the fire risk assessor may consider a number of inputs into the process including:
These could then be used to determine (usually in a qualitative manner) whether the ASET/RSET requirements are being met or whether real-life evacuation takes longer, creating a situation where occupants may be at risk of harm.
Green exit sign
UK fire safety legislation requires that, where necessary, emergency routes and exits must be indicated with signs where the use of signs will aid evacuation.
In the event of a fire, a building must have adequate emergency escape routes and final exits that enable occupiers to effectively evacuate the building, leading them to a place of safety.
There are very few exceptions where escape route signage would not be necessary. However, to ensure such signage meets the basic criteria of aiding evacuation, the system design, along with type and location of signs must be given thought and consideration.
It is well recognised that building occupiers usually leave the premises by the same way that they enter — or at least by routes which are familiar to them. To ensure all means of escape are utilised when required, a well-planned signage system needs to provide information on all the escape routes and emergency exits that are available.
BS 9999:2017 Fire Safety in the Design, Management and Use of Buildings. Code of Practice notes that “fire safety signs and signing systems form an integral part of the overall fire safety strategy of a building and are fundamental to the communication of good fire safety management information”.
More importantly, BS 9999 continues, “clearly visible and unambiguous signage is essential for speedy escape, particularly in buildings where many of the occupants might be unfamiliar with the building layout”.
There are requirements under UK fire safety legislation where necessary for emergency routes and exits to be “indicated” by signs. The phrase “where necessary” is important and indicates that the fire risk assessment completed for the premises will influence the signage system needs.
BS 5499-4:2019 Safety Signs. Code of Practice for Escape Route Signing explores this further and recommends that, before designing an escape route signage system, various factors need to be considered (in the risk assessment) including the:
Of interest, competency criteria for fire risk assessors notes that assessors should have “an awareness of the provisions for and maintenance of, evacuation signage” but does not expand on this further to stipulate if assessors are capable of designing a system.
Having determined the need for escape route signage, the responsible person must then determine who will design the system.
Where required, depending on the complexity of the signage system required, the responsible person may have to seek competent assistance either in-house or externally to undertake the task in accordance with Article 18 (or its equivalent) of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Wherever responsibility for signage system design rests, there are several principles that should be taken into consideration at the planning stage, such as the following.
Taking the above into account, BS 5499-4 then makes recommendations as to several factors that need to be evaluated at the planning stage to meet the above principles. This includes:
The latter point is addressed further in BS 5499-4 as this will influence whether the escape route signage system is illuminated externally (eg by the emergency lighting system) or internally.
In respect of the sign design, BS 5499-4 states that “an escape route sign is a combination sign consisting of the emergency exit sign in BS EN ISO 7010 and should be accompanied by a supplementary safe condition direction arrow and supplementary text”.
However, it is worth noting that Health and Safety Executive guidance contained in L64 states that “if there are fire safety signs still in use which contain symbols or pictograms which conform to the requirements of BS 5499 “they will meet the requirements of the regulations, provided they continue to fulfil their purpose effectively”.
Position and zones of influence
Having determined signage requirements and design, the person responsible for the escape route signage system will need to consider the position of the signs, mounting height, and the necessary dimensions.
There are a number of basic rules to be followed when locating signs that are detailed in various documents, as follows.
In respect of the latter point, L64 states that signs are, in principle, to be installed at a suitable height and in a position appropriate to the line of sight, taking account of any obstacles and in a well-lit, easily accessible and visible location.
This is what is known as the signs’ “required zone of influence” which is defined in BS 5499-10 as the “space in which the safety message intended to be conveyed by a safety sign is effective”.
The zone of influence of any particular safety sign will be determined by the signs’ location, size and position. This may require a certain amount of calculation being undertaken in terms of viewing distances in particular of escape route signage. BS 5499-4 details how to achieve this.
In terms of mounting, the general requirements are that:
The use of escape route signage requires thought and consideration, particularly in terms of its need, the type of sign to be used, its location and effectiveness, and the ability of those close by to understand its meaning.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires means of escape to be identified with escape route signs where necessary. The risk assessment will be the starting point for any signage requirement identification.
Regulation 5 of the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 requires employers to provide employees with suitable and sufficient instruction and training in the meaning of safety signs and the measures to be taken in connection with safety signs. This should be provided at induction and periodically thereafter.
Schedule 1 of the 1996 Regulations and accompanying guidance requires that signage must be cleaned, maintained, checked, repaired, and if necessary, replaced on a regular basis to ensure that they retain their intrinsic and/or functional qualities.
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