Exit locked at work

[Guest Sam]

Hello, i have a question regarding fire doors and exits. in my establishment i live above my job in a live in accommodation. It has two fire exits, leading from the balcony of the building. and one leading onto a landing downstairs which leads through the staff room and out of the building. Our boss has insisted on locking the fire exit next to the staff room, which only leaves one fire exit available to leave through. Is locking this lower level fire exit illegal and dangerous?

[Tom Sutton]

Is the balcony in fresh air and where does the other escape route lead to. What is your normal route from your accommodation.

[Guest Heldback]

My employer has remodelled our place of work and walled up an existing fire exit. The exit was at the end of a fitness studio, with access from the gym floor being through a large glass door at the other. The fire door led into a small storage room and then out of the back or the premises. This storage room has been retasked and the exit from the studio blocked up. This means the studio now has only one way in and out. It has fire extinguishers and a low risk of fire starting or spreading there. Have they broken any rules?

[Tom Sutton]

It all depends on the fire risk assessment, the travel distance, the occupancy of the room, the width of the remaining door and there would be other considerations. There is no way of knowing without a survey and knowing a lot more details.

Check out https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-risk-assessment-small-and-medium-places-of-assembly which is the relevant guide and there may be other guides to consider depending on the layout of the premises, check out http://www.firesafe.org.uk/regulatory-reform-fire-safety-order-2005/ for all the other guides.

[Guest Phylis]

I have a similar question.

In my workplace, we have a fire exit on each floors; GF to 8F. The doors on GF to 3F are locked. Parking is on 2F and 3F. Most of the time, during lunch hour or after office hour, the 3 lifts are not able to accommodate the number of people going down. So, I'd prefer to use the stair but the doors to lower floors are locked.

I've logged a case to our local facility department and they said doors on these floors are locked and only accessible during emergency. This is a security measure requested by the management.

Is this a normal?

[Tom Sutton]

I do not know if it is normal but providing those doors are available in a fire emergency, then it is not going to effect the fire safety of the premises therefore not a problem as far as I am concerned.

[Guest Liam]

Hi tom can a fire door be chained to a room, that is not in use 

[Tom Sutton]

If you say locking a room that does not form part of the means of escape then I would think it is quite acceptable. 

[Guest Gotrek]

Recently our wharehouse manager has fitted combination locks on gates inside our stores, to keep drivers from walking in,but they are to be locked all the time only unlocked to allow drivers in or out,the gates are situated by the entrances to the wharehouse 

[AnthonyB]

If it requires a code to get in, but not to get out it's OK. If a code is required to escape it isn't

[Guest Unhappy worker]

Our only fire exit escape has had a missing step for nearly a year now what do we do 

[AnthonyB]

Report it to the fire service for the fire safety risk and the Environmental Health or HSE (Depending on the industry) for the H&S risk - assuming whoever is responsible for the stairs knows about it and has failed to act.