Some 43% of officer workers think that cracked glass in a fire door is acceptable, while 57% said a hole where a lock had been removed would not affect a fire door’s performance, according to a new survey of office workers’ attitudes to fire doors.
The research – commissioned by health and safety training consultancy CE Safety – goes on to reveal that in terms office workers’ experiences, 41% said they had seen a fire door propped or wedged open at their office. Fire doors should always be left closed, explains CE Safety, unless an appropriate door release mechanism has been fitted, which will automatically close the door when the fire alarm is activated.
Over a third of respondents (34%) did not know, or were unsure, about the correct position a fire door should be kept in when not in use. Of the respondents, 25-34 year olds were the age group who were the most likely to get this question wrong, with 64% of them not knowing the state in which a fire door should be when not in use.
They were also the most likely age group to incorrectly suggest that fire doors should be kept open at all times, with 20% saying the door should be completely open.
A worrying 34% of respondents said they weren’t shown the final exit route of the building when they started their current job, rising to 47% of office workers in London. Walking staff through the building and showing them the complete exit route is much more effective than simply describing it, says CE Safety, as it makes it much easier to remember.
“We were surprised to see the level at which answers varied across the country”
The findings come on the back of figures which show that 75% of fire doors did not meet the required standards, according to a 2021 study of more than 100,000 fire door inspections by the Fire Door Inspection Scheme. The most common reasons for doors to fail were gaps between the door and the frame (77% of fault doors) and care and maintenance issues (54%). The next most common issue was smoke seals, with 37% of fire doors proving inadequate in this area.
“We were worried to see the amount of people who did not know important information about fire doors that could save lives,” CE Safety spokesperson, Gary Ellis, told SHP: “34% of the office workers who took part in our survey did not know that fire doors should be kept closed (unless a self-closing mechanism or door release unit has been installed).
“We asked UK workers to tell us whether they had been shown the exit route out of their workplace that they would follow in case of fire or emergency,” he added. “Overall, 65% said they were aware of the exit route, which is frankly not enough. There’s a significant number of people who don’t have that knowledge, which would help them stay calm and make a safe, swift evacuation.
“We were surprised to see the level at which answers varied across the country – in Northern Ireland and Scotland, a much higher percentage of workers said they had been shown the route, at 91% and 78% respectively. In contrast, in London only about half of the survey’s respondents knew their exit route – only 53%.