Sorry but that is bizarre! I had a year before my ankle operation where I was on crutches on and off and whilst extra measures had to be put in place for my safety in the event of a fire it did not preclude me returning to work. Infact after the initial injury, on my first return to work we had 2 fire alarms on my first day back. I was non weight baring on that foot entirely but there was a plan in place so that I was able to safely exit the building (including down the stairs). That was a building with 600 people in it.
It was an extremely busy, high pressured environment in a very very large company.