An internal office is fitted with a fire door and smoke detector; this office houses the main electricity panel for the building; the fire door has a glass window. The occupant of the office has put a lock on the door to prevent access when not in use [when in use the office remains open] for 'confidentiallity' reasons [Human Resources], the window of the door has been frosted on the inside since fitted. The main external window of the office has also been frosted to approximately half way up. I have raised my concern that (a) we no longer have access to the source of electricity within the office in general; (b) the panel is a likely fire risk; and (c) we are no longer able to even look in to the office to assess whether there is a fire in this room or not.... I guess there are some pretty qualified practitioners out there with experience of fire safety or a similar issue and would appreciate both your comments and if in existance where to find specific regulation or guidance on this particular subject. Many thanks in advance Chris

chris, a reasonable solution would be to provide a key to the door to the facilities manager, thus facilitating access to the panel if and when needed. The panel is a potential source of fire but good maintenance procedures for the system, coupled with keeping combustibles well away from the panel should reduce the risk to acceptable levels. The smoke detector would provide an early warning of a fire. The vision panel is provided so that the office occupant can see out to spot smoke etc at an early stage. Maybe the "frosting" can be replaced by a simple blind that may be used when confidential interviews are taking place, raised during "normal" operations. Discussion with the occupant, explanation of the issues and a negotiated solution is the best way forward. Failing all that, an electricians boot will usually overcome an office door lock!

Chris: There are thousands of main electrical panels across the country in closed locked rooms with solid doors... Don't panic about not being able ot see whether the electric panel is burning or not.... A good hot seat of fire WILL be visible through frosted glass.... But if you're worried about access in the case of a real fire emergency - don't be. The brigade will, if necessary, use their universal key (a big axe) to get through the door. In a previous employment, I had a recalcitrant IT manager insisting that only he could hold the key for the server room - which was a frequent source of 'false alarms' (actually real smoke incidents due to overloading .... but that's another issue). Bottom line was the fire drill I organised when the works fire team took entry using their universal key to recover the dummy casualty I had place in the room.... The IT dept had to foot the bill, and a different security arrangement was in place within two weeks. Ah the good old days. Steve