"In non-patient areas there shouldn't be any members of the public and, unless there is some reason to do otherwise, evacuation can take place as normal."
I would have to disagree with you Phoenix on the above as most hospitals have restaurants and some even have shopping malls and coffe bars in their atrium or general circulation areas
Point taken Dave, but as far as HTM 05-02 is concerned there are patient areas and there are non-patient areas. The uses you talk of would loosely fall under patient areas as they will be frequented by patients (amongst others). There is good guidance on this in HTM 05-03 part D where more appropriate interpretations and explanations are given. Anyway, that is semantics and not worth arguing about....
Jakespop,
I have absolute faith that "you know what you are doing".....let me just make a couple of points.
Outpatient areas are "patient areas" and appropriate guidance is contained in 05-02.
Offices, labs, etc are "non-patient areas" and, again, appropriate guidance is in 05-02. Offices are likely to be "non-hazardous" and labs are likely to be "hazardous."
I quite like 05-02. It is quite short, it is easy to read, it doesn't beat about the bush but makes its point then moves on.
In your original post you referred to "contrary opinions." Different buildings will have different strategies appropriate to their needs, so what appear to be contrary opinions might just be different strategies to fit differing needs. Ensure that what you do in your building fits the needs of the circumstances and test your procedures with a drill (if only a walk through).
Stu