Emergency exit
Encyclopedia
It is usually a strategically located (e.g. in a stairwell, hallway, or other likely place) outward opening door with a crash bar
Crash bar
A crash bar is a mechanism for unlatching a door, consisting of a spring-loaded metal bar fixed horizontally to the front of the door and hinged...
on it and with exit sign
Exit sign
An exit sign is a device in a public facility denoting the location of the emergency exit , guiding people to the closest exit in case of fire or other emergency. Most relevant codes require exit signs to be permanently lit...
s leading to it. The name is a reference to when they are frequently used, however a fire exit can also be a main doorway in or out. A fire escape
Fire escape
A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells inside a building inaccessible...
is a special kind of emergency exit, mounted to the outside of a building.
Local building code
Building code
A building code, or building control, is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects such as buildings and nonbuilding structures. The main purpose of building codes are to protect public health, safety and general welfare as they relate to the...
s will often dictate the number of fire exits required for a building of a given size. This may include specifying the number of stairs
Stairs
-People:* Scott Kannberg , guitarist of Pavement* A. Edison Stairs , New Brunswick politician* Denis Stairs , engineer, Montreal businessman* Ernest W. Stairs , New Brunswick politician...
. For any building bigger than a private house, modern codes invariably specify at least two sets of stairs. Furthermore, such stairs must be completely separate from each other. Some architects meet this requirement by housing two stairs in a "double helix" configuration where two stairs occupy the same floor space, intertwined. It may make no functional sense to have two stairs so close to each other, but it meets the requirements of the building codes.
Knowing where the emergency exits are in buildings can save your life. Some buildings, such as schools, have fire drill
Fire drill
A fire drill is a method of practicing the evacuation of a building for a fire or other emergency. Generally, the emergency system is activated and the building is evacuated as though a real fire had occurred...
s to practice using emergency exits. Many disasters could have been prevented if people had known where fire escapes were, and if emergency exits had not been blocked. For example, in the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
on the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
, some of the emergency exits inside the building were inaccessible, while others were locked. In the Stardust Disaster
Stardust Disaster
The Stardust fire was a fatal fire which took place at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin, Ireland in the early hours of 14 February 1981. Some 841 people had attended a disco there, of whom 48 died and 214 were injured as a result of the fire...
and the 2006 Moscow hospital fire the emergency exits were locked and most windows barred shut. In the case of the Station Nightclub
The Station nightclub fire
The Station nightclub fire was the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in American history, killing 100 people. The fire began at 11:07 PM EST, on Thursday, February 20, 2003, at The Station, a glam metal and rock n roll themed nightclub located at 211 Cowesett Avenue in West Warwick, Rhode Island.The...
, the premises was over capacity the night fire broke out, the front exit was not designed well (right outside the door, the concrete approach split 90 degrees and a railing ran along the edge, and an emergency exit swung inward, not outward as code requires).
In many countries, it is required that all new commercial buildings include well-marked emergency exits. Older buildings must be retrofitted with fire escape
Fire escape
A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells inside a building inaccessible...
s. In countries where emergency exits are not standard, fires will often result in a much greater loss of life.
Well-designed emergency exit signs are necessary for emergency exits to be effective. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fire escape signs usually display the word "EXIT" in large, well-lit, green or red letters. Exit signs can cost $15 to $1500 dollars depending on specs. Sometimes an arrow is displayed as well. In the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, emergency exit signs use pictorial symbols to convey their meaning. Some signs are self-illuminated, using tritium powered light sources.
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, under the Health and Safety (Safety
Safety
Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...
Signs and Signal
Distress signal
A distress signal is an internationally recognized means for obtaining help. Distress signals take the form of or are commonly made by using radio signals, displaying a visually detected item or illumination, or making an audible sound, from a distance....
s) Regulations
Statutory Instrument
A Statutory Instrument is the principal form in which delegated or secondary legislation is made in Great Britain.Statutory Instruments are governed by the Statutory Instruments Act 1946. They replaced Statutory Rules and Orders, made under the Rules Publication Act 1893, in 1948.Most delegated...
1996, signs are required to bear a picture or symbol that clearly illustrates the sign.
Problems with emergency exits
Fire fighters have cited overzealous guards who told people during a fire that they are not allowed to use emergency exits. The practice is actually quite common in the absence of fires, as well. Some skyscrapers have stairwells with standard emergency exit signs on each door, which then lock upon closing. Users of these stairwells are trapped, whether they know or do not know that the only door that opens from the inside is the one on the ground floor. A further problem becoming very common in the USA (2005) is that retail stores at night close one of their main entrance/exits through makeshift heavy metal barriers, signage, paper notes, or junk placed in front of the exits. Some actually lock their exits. A large array of signage and mechanical exit systems have also been devised, including signage that says contradictorily, "This is not an exit," "Do not use this exit," or warning users that a heavy penalty will be assessed for non-emergency use. Some systems do not allow the exit to be opened until the user signals the intention to exit (through a button or lever) for some amount of time, such as 20 seconds. It is also common for these exits to remain completely locked until somebody tests them.On aircraft
Overwing exits
Overwing exits are found on passenger aircraft to provide a means of passenger evacuation onto the wing, where they either continue off the trailing edge by sliding down the extended flaps or by using an evacuation slide that deploys when the exit is opened....
and permanently armed exits). Passengers seated in exit row
Exit row
An exit row is a row of seats on board a commercial airliner that is next to an emergency exit. Exit rows may be next to overwing exits or full-sized exit doors. Passengers seated in exit rows may be required to assist crew members in the event of an emergency evacuation...
s may be called upon to assist and open exits in the event of an emergency.
The number and type of exits on an aircraft is regulated through strict rules within the industry, and is based on whether the aircraft is single or twin-aisled; the maximum passenger load; and the maximum distance from a seat to an exit. The goal of these regulations is to make possible the evacuation of an airliner's designed maximum occupancy of passengers and crew within 90 seconds even if half of the available exits are blocked.
Any aircraft where the emergency exit door sill height is above that which would make unaided escape possible is fitted with an automatic inflatable evacuation slide
Evacuation slide
An evacuation slide is an inflatable slide used to evacuate an aircraft quickly. An escape slide is required on all commercial aircraft where the door sill height is such that, in the event of an evacuation, passengers would be unable to "step down" from the door uninjured An evacuation slide is...
, which allows occupants to slide to the ground safely.