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Use of Stairs

  • 08-06-2013 12:18am
    #1
    drumlover22
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 372 ✭✭


    This may be the wrong forum so feel free to move MODS!

    My mother was in the new eastern health board building in Ballyfermot, located beside Cherry Orchard Hospital. She suffers from claustrophobia and cannot use lifts because of this. She informed the receptionist about this and was told he only way of accessing the upper floors was through the lifts. Surely a building must have some sort of stairs for consumers to access the upper floors of a building in case they can't use the lifts. She was eventually allowed use the "staff" stairs in the back which were not accessible to the public.

    Surely there has to be someone I can contact about this? If the lift is out of service, no-one can access the upper floors. It has to be a fire issue as well.

    What I'm really asking is, is there anyone I could contact to get this changed as it has to violate some building regulations!


Comments

  • #2
    TheChizler
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,514 ✭✭✭TheChizler


    Essentially the lift was 'out of service' for your mother and the stairs were made available. I assume this would be the situation if the lift was out of service in reality. Fire regulations require stairs, which you say the building has.


  • #3
    drumlover22
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 372 ✭✭drumlover22


    TheChizler wrote: »
    Essentially the lift was 'out of service' for your mother and the stairs were made available. I assume this would be the situation if the lift was out of service in reality. Fire regulations require stairs, which you say the building has.

    She was only allowed use the stairs after 20 minutes of explaining why she can't use the lift. She was laughed at firstly when she asked to use the stairs. And the stairs are not accessible to the public, they are "staff" stairs!


  • #4
    TheChizler
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,514 ✭✭✭TheChizler


    drumlover22 wrote: »
    She was only allowed use the stairs after 20 minutes of explaining why she can't use the lift. She was laughed at firstly when she asked to use the stairs. And the stairs are not accessible to the public, they are "staff" stairs!

    It's unusual all right that there would be no stairs in the public area, but in reality all that is required from a consumer point of view is wheelchair access when possible, which they have. The issue seems to be the way you were treated, if you felt you were dealt with harshly maybe a word with the person outlining your concerns would be appropriate? Failing that a manager?


  • #5
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    They are only obliged to provide stairs for emergency egress and exit. I used to frequent a 5 story office building and the stairs were in the staff only areas of each floor with the lifts accessing the public areas. It's not unusual. Your only complaint is that it took 20 minutes for them to agree to let your mother use the staff stairs. Perhaps being HSE it would have allowed access to areas containing confidential information or such like. Any way, there is no real cause for complaint and to be honest your mother's situation would be far from common.


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