Good Morning All,

Apologies if this had been previously asked.

I am currently dealing with a manager of a nursery who has ongoing concerns surrounding the safety of the little ones who have on occasion accessed (2) fire doors, one being a push bar and the other being a turn key fire exit door. I am due to visit the nusery next week for the first time and I do not have any floor plans for the building to hand so I am currently going on what I am being told is in place. 

The manager has said that on opening the (1) fire door it leads to a main road which can be accessed in a matter of seconds. The second fire door in the reception classroom leads to a pathway leading to a car park and then to the main road. I will only be able to determine if either are a safe place when I get there next week. 

A fire risk assessor has already visited the nursery and deemed that all necessary controls in place in relation to fire are both secure and appropriate, however the manager believes we should be doing more to prevent the kids from escaping the building, even to the point where they have said they will consider putting bolts on fire doors unless we take further action. (Yes I have pointed out this is in serious breach of regs etc). An alarm does sound on opening but manager thinks this isn't sufficient as little ones could still come to harm in the time it would take to get to them.  For me whilst she might be eliminating one hazard she's creating another one, but her thinking is that there is a greater chance of a child getting knocked down than there is of a fire. 

Can't help thinking this is more of a managing traffic flow/segregation issue more so than fire but I'd rather be pro-active than re-active. 

My options I've come up with to date include;

1. Add mag locks to doors (previously suggested but rejected due to budget restraints)
2. Re-position push bar/turn key higher up the door to prevent unauthorised access by kids. (would this affect the structural integrity of fire door in any way?) Is it even a consideration? This would obviously need to be factored into FRA as would require adult to always be available to access the door. 
3. Manager rethinks traffic management plan
4. Manager rethinks staff allocation, i.e. teacher/student ratio

Is there anything I haven't considered/forgotten?

Thanks

If you alter a fire door the whole thing needs re-testing - they are only certified "as supplied" and fitted in accordance with manufacturer instruction.

If you move the mechanism "out of reach" would it also be out of reach for example to a wheel chair user?

For the pathway a gate could be fitted to prevent direct evacuation on to the car-park.

The first fire door spilling directly on to a main road sounds like a case of poor design (re-purposed building?).

Unfortunately little Houdini's will find ways round a lot of provisions even from secured car parks.

But aren't these fire exits rather than fire doors?