Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

13.11 
Means of escape in case of fi re
13.11.1 General
It is essential to ensure that people can escape quickly 
from a workplace if there is a fi re. Normally the entrances 
and exits to the workplace will provide escape routes, 
particularly if staff have been trained in what to do in 
case of fi re and if it is certain that an early warning will 
be given.
In modern buildings which have had Building 
Regulation approval, and where there have not been 
signifi cant changes to the building or where the workplace 
has recently been inspected by the fi re authorities and 
found to be satisfactory, it is likely that the means of 
escape will be adequate. It may occasionally be necessary 
to improve the fi re protection on existing escape routes, 
or to provide additional exits. In making a decision about 
the adequacy of means of escape, the following points 
should be considered:
➤
people need to be able to turn away from a fi re as 
they escape or be able to pass a fi re when it is very 
small
➤
if a single-direction escape route is in a corridor, the 
corridor may need to be protected from fi re by fi re-
resisting partitions and self-closing fi re doors
➤
stair openings can act as natural chimneys in fi res. 
This makes escape from the upper parts of some 
workplaces diffi cult. Most stairways, therefore, need 
to be separated from the workplace by fi re-resisting 
partitions and self-closing fi re doors. Where stair-
ways serve no more than two open areas, in shops 
for example, which people may need to use as 
escape routes, there may be no need to use this type 
of protection.
13.11.2 Doors
Some doors may need to open in the direction of travel, 
such as:
➤
doors from a high-risk area, such as a paint spray-
ing room or large kitchen
➤
doors that may be used by more than 50 persons
➤
doors at the foot of stairways where there may be a 
danger of people being crushed
Figure 13.9
Typical fi re point in offi ces with extinguishers, 
fi re notice and alarm break-glass call point.

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