Good Afternoon.

Just looking for a little information. I work in an office with 100+ employees. My employer is having some remodelling work done to the office (for aesthetic purposes) and they will be closing off a portion of a fire escape route and leaving a number of staff with an escape route that measures 2 feet in width. If the office is running at fully capacity the number of staff potentially affected with this reduction in route size is approx 19.

They will still have access to the fire escape just have to file through this gap 1 by 1.

Doesnt appear to be particularly safe to me. Does anyone know the required widths for escape routes.

Many thanks in advance, and apologies if this has been posted in the wrong place.

Is this a permanent situation or is it only temporary while the refurbishment is being undertaken.

This looks highly likely to be a permanent situation.

The minimum width of an escape route should not be less than 750mm (unless it is for use by less than five people in part of your premises) and, where wheelchair users are likely to use it, not less than 900mm.

Check out DCLG guide for offices at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-risk-assessment-offices-and-shops page 67 or Aproved Document B (Fire Safety) at http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/buildingregulations/approveddocuments/partb/bcapproveddocumentsb/bcapproveddocbvol2/ page 36.