I'm presently sitting in a services on the M6 adjacent to a fire exit that opens onto a bridge over a water feature. The bridge leads over the water to a grassy area that has large haphazardly placed lumps of granite that could be used as steps up to the top of the grassy bank. Or they could be a trip/slip hazard and the grass could be a slip hazard when wet. The water feature has a waterfall, ducks and is very pleasant to look at, so are the DANGER DEEP WATER signs - the water feature has no fall protection at all. The bridge gas adequate side rails but once onto the grass - nothing. I can't see any bouyancy aids for rescue from the water and there are no instructins for people using the fire exit apart from "push bar to open". As I wrote above I sometimes think my standards are too high but in this case I wonder "who the heck has allowed this situation?" Surely there cannot be a suitable and sufficient fra here?

plase ignore the smelling eras

I am not really sure what signs you would expect in the way of a sign. The main requirement in such a situation would be to get out, not stop and read a sign then get trampled by those following you. You are going to get hazards all over the place. Where I go mountain biking it is pretty treacherous if you go for the serious off road bits. We also share the area with trail motor cyclist, hikers, dog walkers and horseriders. The only signage is 'footpaths' to keep a bit of control for the bikes etc; other than that the National Trust leave it to self-police which seems to work. Ok, we have seen more than one cyclist need a plaster or two but, hey, that's life

I believe what Chris was asking was about the FRA and mentioned the other items in passing. It is always possible that the FRA was carried out before the hazards noted were put in place (yes, it should have been amended perhaps). Also from Chris's previous postings, he is patently not risk averse and this was just the ruminations of a person bored with a cup of coffee and wishing to share his thoughts with an appreciative audience. I too am sometimes sad enough to consider fire exits and fire doors in various public locations, (particularly shops whilst waiting for the other half to determine which of the 6 frocks she's picked she might actually buy but that's another story!) and I am often amazed at the complacency of owners, managers and staff when exits are blocked or fire doors are left open. In Chris's example, I would guess that the place of safety should an evacuation be needed is not the mound but more likely the car park and the slippery slope is merely a route to that place of safety.

Bob I think you have hit it on the head. Of course, only after due risk assessment of possible damage to the hammer, stress on the hammer user and, possibly, damage to the head .....

Hi all, Thanks for the entertaining responses so far :-) I was travelling home from Scotland at the time and stopped off for my 20 minute break, entitled to after 6 hours work :-). I was reading and responding to the fra topic re courtyard when I got into FRA mode and started observing what was around me. On the way up yesterday I did see three people crossing the motorway farrell, they were road workers placing warning signs on the central reservation prior to erection of the signs. I know they can do that after a dynamic assessment including a traffic count, I wonder if that was recorded as required. As far as I'm concerned a means of escape should lead to a place of ultimate safety and not past unguarded waterways and up muddy embankments. I was once a fire officer for a factory in Merseyside that had a social club on its premises. The fire exit from first floor consisted of a metal stairway at the rear leading onto a grassy bank. The local fire officer condemned this as a means of escape and required the stairs be extended to the ground. Cutting the story short, and due to the cost involved, it led to the social club closing down. Oh by the way I do notice extinguishers and fire doors and everything else fire safety and also lots of general safety things as well. That comes from 40 odd years in the business and I would think that is accepted as normal for my line of work. I have had a few holidays this year already but - boy do I need another, however sometimes work is just like a holiday to me :-)

I'm quite happy to live with the banter, enjoy it actually as it's good to see people in our profession have a sense of humour, without it we would all go quite mad I think. Also I expected it re this topic. However nobody has responded re the means of escape not leading to a place of ultimate safety - does that mean nobody else realises that it should?

Again ingnore the smelling eras, whers spell checker when you need it?