Fire exits provide a clear and unobstructed exit route for employees, ensuring that they can quickly, safely and easily exit a building in the event of an emergency. Smoke can engulf a building within minutes, it is therefore important to have a straightforward evacuation route in place to prevent chaos. However, for a fire exit to be effective they must be designed with the appropriate safety features and planning. This involves designing fire exits with the correct lighting, obvious signage and high-quality materials, whilst also ensuring accessibility, maintenance and training of employees.
Key design elements of a safe fire exit
Steel Door
Firstly, the type of door is an obvious, yet essential, element of a safe fire exit. For the highest level of protection, a fire door should be made from galvanised stainless steel. Steel is known for its ability to withstand high temperatures for up to 4 hours, which is essential in the event of a fire. Typically, traditional timber fire doors are rated FD30 or FD60, meaning that they only protect a building from fire for 30 or 60 minutes. In order to comply with regulations, it is important to ensure that your door is fire tested before installation, to see how long it can protect a building from fire. Furthermore, steel is also a highly durable material meaning that it is extremely long lasting and not easily damaged.
Effective Door Mechanisms
Fire exit doors must be regularly monitored and checked to ensure that they are in full working condition. This is extremely important as a fire can occur at any time and if your door is faulty it can result in serious safety issues.
In addition, a suitable fire exit door must operate without any form of locking mechanism, usually utilising some form of panic hardware, like a push bar. Similarly, fire exit doors must always open outwards to ensure a quicker escape.
Signage and Lighting
In the event of a fire, it is common to feel chaos and panic, which is why it is so important to be able to easily identify the location of your closest fire exit. To ensure that fire exits can be quickly and easily located they must have the obvious and appropriate signage.
Fire exit signs are required to be rectangular in shape, with a green background and white writing, to ensure that words and diagrams are easy to read. In addition, the signs must be large enough to see from a distance and placed two metres above the floor at all times. To ensure maximum visibility, it is important that signs are permanently illuminated and placed at every change in turn before an emergency exit. This lighting must operate on a different power supply to ensure that, should the power go out, exit routes will remain illuminated when evacuating.
Fire Exit Best Practices
Regular Maintenance and Inspections
Regular maintenance is crucial in making sure that fire exits remain in good condition and in line with safety regulations. This involves routinely checking the condition of fire exit doors, locks, hinges, panic hardware and lights to ensure that everything is in good working order. If you notice signs of wear and tear or damage to any component of your fire exit, it is extremely important to report this immediately and see that it is repaired or replaced. Failure to do so can hinder safe evacuation in the event of a fire.
Employee Training
All employees must be informed on the location of fire exits upon their induction to the business. This ensures that all employees are aware of their closest fire exit and are able to exit as quickly and safely as possible in the event of an emergency. Furthermore, businesses must have an emergency evacuation plan in place that includes clearly marked and unobstructed escape routes and fire exits. All employees must be briefed on this plan and undergo the necessary training so that they understand the correct procedures during a fire.
What to Avoid when Planning a Fire Exit
Obstructed Exit Routes
Fire exit routes require quick and easy access in order to ensure that individuals are able to smoothly evacuate the building within a sufficient amount of time. In order to ensure a smooth exit, it is pivotal that exit routes remain unobstructed at all times. In the event of an emergency, blocked pathways can lead to falls, injuries and prolonged exit times, placing the individuals at high risk.
To avoid obstructed fire exits it is a good idea to designate trained personnel to perform regular inspections of your fire exit, using a routine schedule to ensure the area is consistently monitored. In addition, fire exits should never be used as a storage area for items and boxes, it is important that staff are made aware of this to prevent blockages. If your fire exit is positioned anywhere near desk space, leave an appropriate distance between the desk and fire exit to ensure the doorway isn’t blocked in any way and there is a wide and clear passageway for evacuation purposes.
Failing to Consider Accessibility
If businesses fail to consider accessibility when designing their fire exit it can have monumental consequences on the safety of staff members. Accessibility ensures that fire exits are designed with disabled individuals in mind, so that they are able to safely evacuate the premises in the event of an emergency.
To ensure your fire exit is accessible make sure that pathways are a minimum of 32 inches wide, this offers access to mobility aids and wheelchair users. In addition, if levels change near your fire exit it is essential that there is ramp access for these individuals. For those individuals who may have limited hand dexterity it is crucial that doorways have easy opening systems, like a push bar. In addition, emergency lighting must be installed and maintained to help off guidance to those who suffer with visual impairments.
Fire exits are a critical safety component in any building and are crucial to providing an efficient and safe evacuation in the event of an emergency. It is therefore extremely important that businesses comply with the correct regulations, in the design, planning and maintenance of these fire exits to ensure the safety of all staff members and visitors. Failure to do so can impede safe evacuation and significantly raise the risks associated with fire hazards.
