Rank: Forum user 
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Hi all, just looking for some input please.
I've just started working for a company within a 3 story building. Each floor has a large open planned office with a stairwell at either end of room - one is the main stairwell and the other stairwell is used in the event of a fire. The doors to the stairwell used in the even of a fire are fire doors and are suitably labelled. However, on the other side of the doors there are no handles, rendering re-entry to the office impossible were you to be in the stairwell. There is, of course, an eventual fire exit at the foot of the stairwell but what if there was a fire blocking it? You would be trapped in the stairwell as you cannot re-enter any of the doors on the floors above due to there being no handle. I understand the desire to prevent people from re-entering an area where there is a potential fire...but is it right not to have handles on both sides of the door? Any input would be greatly appreciated!
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Rank: Super forum user
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Its an understandable concern, but not necessarily significant. Lets not forget that a fire risk assessment - as the name suggests - measures and deals with lowering risk to a tolerable level.
For a three storey building, it is likely that excessive travel distances will require a 'protected route' which will include the staircase(s). A protected should be: - Separated from the rest of the premises by fire resisting materials (including fire doors which you appear to have).
- Ignition sources should be restricted to lighting and sockets for cleaning etc, and
- Combustible materials - including furniture -should be kept to a minimum or not permitted.
The risk - in terms of likelihood - will be reduced to an acceptable limit by providing a protected route. It could be further enhanced by automatic fire detection.
It is acceptable to have security restrictions. You need to take account of disabled evacuation and fire service access, but for offices, it is usually not difficult. A building I look after has 14 floors and 6 staircases. Due to the processes carried on there (payroll and HR), many of the floors are locked or pass only access from the stairs. This has passed a number of enforcement audits
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