Why Everton FC invested in Evac+Chair equipment exceeding new ASG regulations

When one of the biggest and most historic Premier League teams in Everton came to Evac+Chair to help them with Goodison Park, the company helped in the best way possible

Everton FC – a Premier League football club – has committed to comply with the new regulations for disabled access set out in the Accessible Stadia Guide.

It has undergone major redevelopment and has chosen Evac+Chairs for Everton’s mobility-impaired supporters who are unable to use the stairways in an emergency.

Everton’s commitment to become ASG-compliant, encouraged them to make a substantial investment to improve equality of evacuation and prevent discrimination for all their fans in its 39,950 capacity, Goodison Park stadium.

The improvements involved significant work including a range of new viewing positions for fans with disabilities, new evacuation equipment and improved toilets and facilities.

A key part of the project was new, elevated, wheelchair, viewing platforms and a number of accessible seating options in various areas of the ground.

All Premier League clubs agreed to comply with the requirements of the Sports Grounds and Safety Authority (SGSA) Accessible Stadia document.

Boosting accessibility

In terms of accessibility, one of the criticisms levelled at several clubs, was that wheelchair users suffered poor sightlines of the match by being positioned at pitch level.

The new elevated platforms at Goodison Park now provide an additional 89 positions for wheelchair users between the Goodison Road Main Stand and Sir Phillip Carter Park stand, as well as some additional elevated positions in the Howard Kendall Gwladys street stand and the Bullens Road away end.

In total, positions for wheelchair users at Goodison Park have now increased to 214 spaces.

A range of improvements – including four, new, fully-accessible lifts, two new, accessible wheel chair lifts, new stairs and designated entrances and exits – have improved access and emergency evacuation.

The club already had 12 evacuation chairs in place and has invested in another four chairs to become fully compliant.

Everton FC has made the significant investment to ensure equality for all visitors even though the club is set to relocate to a new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock on the Liverpool waterfront in the future.

Underpinning a fire strategy

Speaking about working with Evac+Chair, Richard Cairns, Facilities Manager at Everton FC, said that while the club had an option to invest in a new stadium, they wanted to stick with the original ground due to the fans, even though that meant that they had to potentially increase spending to make sure that the correct evaluation was done – which they duly got when Evac+Chair came to the fore.

“We chose to invest in our ground regardless of the new stadium because, as a club, we are committed to all our supporters and hold the need for equality, particularly in sports, in high regard,” Cairns said. “Evacuation procedures obviously underpin our fire safety strategy, but we also need to provide for any circumstance where someone may need assistance and the lifts are out of action.

“Correct evacuation training is vital for all football clubs as, you can imagine, we have a lot of people working here on match days, so we needed to develop a policy that enables us to train as many of our team as possible.

“Evac+Chair helped implement a training programme for key match day staff and accessibility Stewards and we are confident that all of our fans and visitors to Goodison Park would be evacuated safety and correctly in an emergency.”

Avoiding heavy lifting

The chair model chosen by Everton FC is the 300H, which has a 182kg carrying capacity and is designed for one-person operation.

It avoids the need for heavy lifting or manual handling.  British-made, all Evac+Chairs carry the CE mark (class 1 medical device) and also undergo independent type testing.

Adding further comment, Colin Moore, UK Sales Manager at Evac+Chair, said that it is perhaps more important at this time than any other that football clubs in the modern age stick to the guidelines in place to keep people safe at matches and that part of the service that they offered the Toffees proved to be very useful as it meant that the most appropriate equipment could be used.

“It’s more important than ever for all football clubs to comply with the accessible stadia guidelines by providing the means for a safe exit in an emergency,” Moore said. “We not only just supply the equipment but also provide full training support that a club might need to implement safe practices on match days.

“As part of the full service we offer, we undertake a full site survey to find the most appropriate equipment for each area.

“This integrated service means Everton FC has achieved its aims for full compliance with the act by appointing us to provide the equipment and train its team to ensure it’s used properly.

“More clubs are moving towards compliance and equality. Evac+Chair is helping equip them with world-class apparatus and all the necessary knowledge to ensure their facilities afford safe access for all, no matter how able they are.”