Functional Emergency Doors

In times of emergency, like fire and earthquake, are there facilities that will allow egress of the building aside from the main door? Will there be other options if the first choice of escape is not feasible? If the answer is yes, then safety is ensured cases of emergency.

An emergency exit door is passage leading to the outside of the building. They provide protection and security and are equipped with a “panic” or “exit” device that keeps the door locked from the outside while allowing people inside to leave quickly and safety.

As required, emergency doors must be separated by fire resistant materials, the rating of which depends on how tall the building is. That means one-hour fire resistant rating for three or lesser stories and two hours’ resistant rating if there are more than three stories.

Likewise, the opening must be protected by self-closing approved fire door. In case of fire, the occupants can conveniently open the door and leave the premises. At the same time, this allows the device to close the door fully to contain the spread of smoke and fire to other parts of the building.

Emergency doors must be located strategically within the building. To ensure maximum safety, emergency doors must be:

• cleared of obstructions like equipment and boxes;
• installed with emergency lighting to keep the exit path visible;
• identified properly with clear and visible signage to indicate the direction of the nearest exit and exit discharge; and
• provided with emergency alarm system for warning purposes.