During an audit, I opened a fire exit to discover I was trapped in a locked compound as the wind ever so kindly blew the door shut. This compound however does not belong to us and although we have requested that they unlock the padlocks through the day in the event of needing to evacuate that way, they are refusing. Where do we stand on this? What can I do?

If its not your land and access is not granted then you might not have much choice. A final fire exit must lead to a place of ultimate safety, if this compound is not large enough to be WELL clear of the building (and any potential smoke/heat) then its not a place of safety. If negotiations with your neighbour are goin no where, I'd consider updating your fire risk assessment and look at alternative exit routes. Do you have other exits or an alternative direction to turn if this door was not used? I certainly would not want to rely on a neighbour to unlock this on a daily basis.

Does seem odd that they build a building with an escape route onto ground that there is no right of access ( perhaps this needs to be checked). Anyway here I go again with my suggestions. If the owners are concerned about security or you are putting a duty on them to open and close the gate. Could the solution be as simple as suggesting there are two padlocks daisy chained together one of theirs and one of yours. Set up so that whichever lock is opened you can open the gate. You would put your key on the inside of the door or just by it. You would then give your word it would only be used during an emergency or test and your company would double check it was locked again afterwards. you could but suggest, they can only say yes or no. Chris

Keys are rarely acceptable except for very low risk & occupancy In this case, one poster has advise contacting the fire service. I would advise against this in the first instance. It is not the fire service's responsibility to come up with a MOE solution for the Lisar's premises. That is down to the Responsible Person (RP) of that occupancy, seeking assistance from a consultancy if necessary. Lisar, the risk of contacting the fire service as a first resort is that instead of advice (or as well as advice) you may receive an enforcement notice as it's your RP's responsibility to provide a means of escape - and not anyone else's When I was an Inspecting Officer, we received a request for similar assistance from a six storey single staircase building, whose alternative escape route over a rooftop and through a neighbouring property was no longer viable. When I arrived, I was told the neighbours had moved out and the building owners had locked the rooftop access for security taking account the building's empty status. We entered into a voluntary agreement that the complainant would not use the top two floors (instead of receiving a Prohibition Notice) until the issue was addressed. I had no option other to issue an enforcement notice simultaneously to providing advice for the complainant to seek legal assistance re an apparent breach of an old tenancy agreement. It didnt feel right to penalise someone asking for help, but I had no choice as there was a clear breach of the RRO So once again, take care seeking assistance from an enforcement authority as it can be similar to asking a traffic warden if its ok for your car to stay on this double yellow line :)

Further to what safety smurf said- I shall quote from the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 “3. In this Order “responsible person” means— (a) in relation to a workplace, the employer, if the workplace is to any extent under his control; (b) in relation to any premises not falling within paragraph (a)— (i) the person who has control of the premises (as occupier or otherwise) in connection with the carrying on by him of a trade, business or other undertaking (for profit or not); or (ii) the owner, where the person in control of the premises does not have control in connection with the carrying on by that person of a trade, business or other undertaking" So the other guys will have duties imposed on them and the landlord will also have to get their fingers out

What I was trying to explain between meetings was that the landlord(assuming they own both sets of premises) has a shared duty a well- it’ s not just a duty on the occupier which is what Safety Smurf seemed to be saying.

You need to review your risk assessment as Article 14 of the FSO states that emergency exits must lead to a place of safety. This doesn't as you are then trapped in a yard close to the building. If he won't unlock it for whatever reason ask him for a key and house it next to the final exit in a break glass case.