No way to get out of some supermarkets! (NETTO for example!)

bluckaneyr

Ivan advises customers to point out areas of concern to store management and this is something I would agree with.
Additionally, however, because management has the legal obligation for the safety of their customers and employees, following up on valid suggestions from the public is not sufficient –
Management are obliged to take a proactive role to ensure their stores are a safe shopping / working environment.

The large multinational supermarket chains have a legal responsibility under the legislation of each state they operate in, to ensure their store designs incorporate adequate evacuation points and that suitable evacuation plans and training of staff are conducted.

Stores that neglect these obligations are leaving themselves open to serious charges of negligence while also exposing their staff and customers to undue risk.

No prudent store manager would rely on a defense that customers who were unhappy with the store’s safety standards, should go elsewhere.

On the importance of the lack of clear and adequate evacuation signage, research indicates that shoppers in emergencies move towards “familiar” exits, namely-
A) The entrance point through which they entered the building or
checkout points.

As regards A) - because supermarkets have become preoccupied with combating shoplifting, most entrance points are now deliberately designed to prevent exit.

Regarding point - Checkout points are now just wide enough to accommodate a trolley and those not in use are obstructed or closed.

MORE SIGNAGE-

Well designed stores have additional emergency exits or exits not used for normal circulation.
Unfortunately, in the panic of genuine evacuation situations these emergency exits are usually ignored due to inadequate signage.

Where smoke obscures vision, the problem is often fatally compounded. There is also evidence that in panic situations and because of the absence of clearly displayed evacuation instructions, some customers bring their trolleys with them, causing further obstruction at checkouts.

A short overview of the general subject of SIGNAGE and evacuation can be seen at The University of Greenwich’s website at
http://fseg.gre.ac.uk/fire/visibility_catchment_area.html

The article entitled “VISIBILITY CATCHMENT AREA OF EXITS AND SIGNS” instances large scale fatal fires such as
Beverly Hills Supper Club,
Summerland,
The Stardust Club and
Dusseldorf Airport
as examples of situations where inquiries found that the inability to locate efficient means of escape contributed to major loss of life.

The casualty figures for these fires are-

Summerland (Douglas, Isle of Man) 51 dead
Stardust Club, (Artane, Dublin, Ireland) 48 dead - 200 injured
Beverly Hills Summer Club fire - 165 dead
Dusseldorf Airport fire - 17 civilians died, 72 people suffered serious injuries.

Public safety is hardly merely a minor inconvenience, Ivan

Wig

Public safety has governing bodies, who have requirements in order to obtain planning permission etc. Do you really think that Lidl type stores don't meet or exceed those requirements?

If you are concerned about your safety in a Lidl store (which meets safety regulations) then don't go there. But if you feel this way you should at least tell the manager of your concerns so he can try to put your mind at rest, and you can counter with "but I'm the customer and I'm telling you in the event of a fire this is what I would try to do....."

If you have further problems ask your local fire department manager to go and shop in lidls and whilst he's there to see if he agrees with you that there could be a problem.

I note that so far all the people who are so concerned about this in this thread, have yet to actually do something about it. Instead of moaning here, go and say something.

IvanOpinion

Just reading back through this I remember when the supermarket I worked for went on fire (a welder was working on the air-conditioning and left a hot torch on top of some cardboard boxes while he went on his tea break ... they caught fire and it was quickly spread because the air conditioning sucked little pieces of burning cardboard in).

My first job was to get the main fire exit open which I did. The big problem however was the stupidity and opportunism of the customers. Even though the sirens were going and the tannoy was continually telling people to exit the store ... a store that was obviously filling with smoke some people were still doing their shopping as if nothing was happening. The intelligent people ran out of the exit and got well away from the store ... other fools got outside of the fire exit and then immediately stopped blocking the fire exit (we were yelling at them to keep moving .. but we must have had the low intelligence corps in that day because all they managed to do was give us dirty looks as if to say 'who the hell are you to tell me what to do').

The worst however were the opportunists. They were actually piling stuff into their trolleys and trying to push them towards the doors. We knew that outside the doors there was enough of a problem (with people standing about) without it being blocked up with trolleys so we basically grabbed the trolleys of the people and shoved them back up into the store. The amount of abuse we had to take from these thieves was ridiculous. One girl who was manning the door with me ended up with a black eye because she tried taking the trolley of a man who simply punched her. It was ridiculous.

The strange thing was the number of people who then demanded to see the manager to complain how rude the staff had been ... yes we were bodily throwing people out of the store, yes we were grabbing trolleys off the thieves to stop them blocking up the fire exit, yes we were swearing at them because of their own stupidity, and yes the store burnt right to the ground in only a few minutes.

The staff WILL be there to help but the biggest problem is the stupidity of the customer.

Ivan

mike_the_bike_2

Suggest if you don't like the set up at Lidls then Waitrose may well supply you with the ambiance and "customer experience" you are looking for or failing that Marks & Spencer Food hall or if that fails I understand Harrods also have a very nice food hall with no barriers