Posted By Bennie
Hi Demi - a site i know have sliding locking bolts on their fire doors to increase security.

Their written procedure however states that when anyone is in that building the bolts will be in the open position. This is strictly followed by the staff who open up in the morning and lock up at night. I see no problem with that.

Dave

Posted By Carrell
Hi Demi,

Our local Fire Officer was round recently and noted that some of our doors have these "break glass" tube bolts on them. He said that they're okay by law but we must make employees aware of the 2 actions required at these doors rather than just the 1. This was quite easy for me as I was just starting all fire training at the time and slotted in a slide.

Maybe you could point this out to your Managers or the person doing the fire risk assessment.

Carrie

Posted By Tabs
Chains are a mixed blessing. If they are used, they must ONLY be used when the building is empty (so if even one person is working, the chains should not be in place).

There should be a VERY robust way of ensuring this - some offices use "shadow boards" to store the chains and locks when not in use, the boards being in a very obvious place in sight of the person(s) responsible for their correct use. Each chain has a shadow to be hung against, making it obvious if one is missing (and therefore likely to be preventing a safe escape).

Theatres often have a opening regime and closing regime which starts and ends at the shadow board for example.

Better by far is a secure system that requires no key, no item that can be misplaced at all ... and that can be operated in a panic.

There are options on the market.