Page 38 - Occupational Health & Safety, March 2017

FIRE SAFETY
Maintaining Fire Compliant OpeAnings
Whilemostpeopleusinginstitutionaland building’s doorways serve multiple pur-
commercial buildings worry most about security issues these days, fires strike far more often than those types of emergencies. BY DAVID KASE
poses to those who live, work, or visit the facility. They provide a convenient and safe conduit in and out of the building, they of-
fer security, and they can play an important role in protecting occupants in the event of a fire emergency. The fire code requirements on openings vary de- pending upon the buildings’ uses. However, all open- ings have one thing in common: Although doors and exit devices may have been compliant with fire code regulations upon installation, there’s no guarantee
they’ll stay that way.
Exit devices, when installed on new openings,
work nicely. But when things deteriorate—doors begin to sag or otherwise don’t fit or function as be- fore—people become concerned about security and look for DIY ways to secure it. Unfortunately, most people aren’t knowledgeable about what’s required from a fire safety perspective, or they want to keep expenses minimal and will do anything they can to avoid spending money on fire code-compliant doors and door hardware.
Another problem is that people unintentionally make it difficult to find or access emergency exits by placing furnishings and objects in front of doors when they don’t know where else to store those items. And believe it or not, sometimes murals or other décor are used to make emergency exits blend in with their surroundings.
Those actions jeopardize occupants’ well-being and could have dire consequences.
Building codes constantly evolve to better pro- tect people in the event of fire emergencies. Unfor- tunately, those codes are only effective to their full potential when building owners, property managers, construction professionals, locksmiths, and door hardware professionals make checking compliance a priority for the long term. The ongoing inspections needed to ensure existing openings are compliant don’t always happen.
Some of the risky situations I’ve either seen or heard of include:
■ Highchairs stacked in front of a restaurant’s emergency fire exit
■ A church’s fire exit hidden by a stage curtain
■ Motorcycles lined up in front of a fire exit at a motorcycle shop
■ An elementary school dance where teachers placed a display and table in front of the emergency exit ■ Emergency exits purposely locked with
deadbolts
■ On numerous occasions, when locks aren’t
working correctly, I’ve seen people tape the latches
34 Occupational Health & Safety | MARCH 2017
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