Advanced Electronics LiTe/LifeLine Product Manager, David Henderson, talks about radio paging communications in the context of the Disability Discrimination Act, and why we should help influence public and private sector building owners to alert the hearing impaired upon activation of a fire alarm.

Over the past three years Advanced Electronics have performed an extensive product review and evaluation of the original ‘LifeLine’ product range. The knowledge gained from industry professionals, from both public and private sectors, has given us a thorough understanding of safety systems for the deaf and hearing impaired, which can help satisfy DDA requirements.

The use of paging with life safety systems is becoming increasingly important. With this in mind, it led us to evaluate our product, look at market requirements and provide a complete overhaul of the existing Lifeline product range. However, what we must consider before installing such a system are the influential DDA requirements.

What is the DDA
The ‘Disability Discrimination Act’ aims to prevent discrimination against any person living with a disability, and seeks to provide equal enforceable rights where access to goods, facilities and services are concerned. It states that service providers are not allowed to treat people less favorably because of their disability, and failure to consider their needs will be viewed as ‘discrimination’.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was introduced to make it unlawful to discriminate against disabled persons in connection with employment, the provision of goods, facilities and services or the disposal or management of premises; to make provision about the employment of disabled persons; and to establish a National Disability Council.

As of October 2004, Part 3 of the Act was introduced to improve rights further. Organisations were required to make appropriate ‘physical’ changes to ensure factors such as access and circulation were addressed, and the appropriate equipment provided.

Who is responsible and what are the penalties?
It is the responsibility of public and private sector owners, or occupants, to ensure their premises meet DDA requirements. The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) believe that in most cases the award that an individual may receive for ‘hurt feelings’ is likely to be less than £5000, and may result in the service provider being served with a court injunction to make amendments. However, employers should also note that awards for damages through Employment Tribunals for breach of the DDA are uncapped. Further exposure to potentially significant increased risk occurs from employers' and third party liability insurance and under duty of care.
 

Disability Equality Duty 2006 (DED)
The Disability Equality Duty came into force on 4 December 2006. This new legal duty requires all public authorities to actively look at ways of ensuring that disabled people are treated equally. The ‘DED’, also referred to as the general duty, outlines what public authorities must have to promote equality of opportunity.

Requirements of the Duty
All public authorities covered by the duty must: publish a Disability Equality Scheme including within it an Action Plan; involve disabled people in producing the Scheme and Action Plan; demonstrate the actions in the Scheme that they have taken and what outcomes have been achieved; report on the progress and developments of the Scheme; and continually review and revise the Scheme.

Who is responsible?
The DED covers 45,000 public bodies across Great Britain. By 4th December 2006 many of these public authorities should have produced and published a Disability Equality Scheme under the specific duties. Local bodies include central or local government, schools, health trusts, emergency services etc.

Who enforces the Duty?
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) must ensure public authorities meet their obligations under the DED. The DRC, and its successor the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR), can take legal action against public authorities failing to carry out their responsibilities by issuing compliance notices. Along with individual disabled people they can also challenge a public authority’s failure to meet the general duty by seeking a judicial review in the High Court, or Court of Session in Scotland.

Choosing the correct equipment
Although there are several products on the market be aware the design, installation testing and commissioning of the system must fully comply with the requirements of BS-5839-1:2002 when installed, with specific emphasis on section 18 - Fire Alarm warnings for people with impaired hearing. Bearing this in mind and with a thorough understanding of the DDA requirements and industry standards, a 3-year plan comes near to an end with the release of the LifeLine PX System.
 

The LifeLine PX-1000 range

The Lifeline PX is a state of the art radio communication system which can form part of the fire system application. The system can be used with our ESPA 444 paging interface, allowing full monitoring of a fire panel remotely, and is easily configured with specific information targeting unique and or groups of pagers.

The PX-1000 is a Paging transmitter tailored to suit most fire industry applications, or where a pager system is required to alert the hearing impaired. Multiple messages can be stored in the unit ready for transmission, which can be triggered via 1 of 8 inputs or 1 of 4 front panel message buttons. The system is designed to allow compliance with BS5839-1 section 18. On-site configuration allows all site specific messaging text and operating modes to be easily configured through the simple, integrated configuration menu. This extends to transmitted power output, allowing coverage patterns to be easily set up on-site. The transmitter is battery-backed and all configuration data is stored in non-volatile memory.

The unit has an integrated power-supply, battery charging (12V Lead-acid battery) and radio transmitter housed in a neat and robust steel enclosure with ample provision for cable management.

Programmable Inputs

• 8 Programmable Inputs for independent event notification
• Can be programmed to transmit messages or set modes
• Individually configured as monitored or non-monitored inputs
• Flexible message programming for one-shot or repeat message transmissions

Message buttons

• Messages can be individually programmed on-site via the user interface.
• Message buttons can be configured to be open for general use or protected by key-switch/ pass-code.

Outputs

• 4 clean-contact outputs are provided for signaling to other equipment.
• The fault relay has a set of three change-over contacts. This output will de-energize on any system fault.
• Three programmable outputs are provided; these consist of a pair of normally open contacts (which can be configured as inverted) to provide various functions.

Radio performance

• The radiated output power can be configured on site up to 2W maximum. This allows site coverage to be easily tailored.
• The transmission frequency is 459.15MHz - the transmitter remains compatible with existing products within the life-line range.
• Approved to the EN301-489-2 radio standard under the EU R&TTE (Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment) directive.
   

The LifeLine PX control panel

Test mode
The test mode is used to prefix any outgoing message with a pre-programmed text string (default “TEST”). This is used to notify pager users that a test is in progress such that they don’t act on the message. The test mode can be invoked from the front panel mode key-switch, the user menu (protected by pass-code) or via one of the 8 programmable inputs. By utilizing one of the programmable inputs, the fire system can be used to automatically invoke test-mode - this is useful for weekly fire system tests where the test is still controlled from one point.

Engineer mode
This mode diverts all outgoing messages to only engineer pagers. This is useful in situations where commissioning work is being carried out on either the fire system or paging system. The Engineer mode is again invoked via the front panel mode key-switch, the user menu (protected by pass-code) or remotely via one of the 8 programmable inputs.
 

User Interface

• A 128X64 graphical LCD display conveys status information and is also used to present a simple commissioning menu. Navigation and numeric buttons are used to work through menus and enter numeric and text information as required to configure the system.
• 5 discrete indicators are incorporated to indicate various system status conditions.

User access control
Menu functions and (optionally) message buttons are restricted to specific users. This is accomplished by the provision of a specific key-switch on the front panel or alternatively a user pass-code which is entered on the numeric key-pad.

Testing and evaluating the Lifeline PX, Mark Taylor (Technical Support Engineer) says: “Installation of the LifeLine PX has many advantages, a removable equipment chassis for ease of installation, and a unique LCD display that allows for rapid change to programming configuration.”

With on-going demand for additional product, John Newton (UK Sales Manager) says: “A revised radio paging system with user friendly control will prove to be a great addition to our product range; the system will provide ideal solutions for many paging application whether it be a simple hotel requirement, or large scale networked system.”

For further information on the product please contact your local area Sales Manager or visit the website at www.advel.co.uk. For guidance regarding the Disability Discrimination act please go to the Disability Rights Commission website www.drc.org.uk.