Sunday, December 11, 2011

How to Keep Your Emergency Exits Free of Obstructions

Both OSHA regulations and the NFPA Life Safety Code require unobstructed egress from buildings. The Life Safety Code states that "means of egress shall be free of obstructions that would prevent its use"; while the OSHA requirements of 29 CFR 1910.36 (b)(4) require exits to be "...maintained so as to provide free and unobstructed egress from all parts of the building or structure at all times when it is occupied."

One of the most common discrepancies found during safety inspections of facilities is emergency exits obstructed by stored materials. Emergency exits are often times located in quiet alcoves that seem ideal locations to "temporarily" store boxes or furniture.

Vigilance is required to keep emergency exits free of obstructions. One method is to make it inspections of emergency exits a part of security officers daily rounds. It is common for security guards to perform inspections of exterior doors to ensure they are locked. By asking the security guards to also verify that the exits are free from obstructions you can increase the safety of your facility with little to no added expense.




By using an inexpensive barcode scanner your employees can easily record the results of their inspections.


Results are automatically uploaded to our easy to use web application. If any blocked emergency exits are found, messages can be sent automatically to the appropriate people for corrective action.

By adding these inspections to existing facilities inspections you avoid the burden of creating a new inspection route. By using  barcode scanners you will eliminate unnecessary paperwork related to tracking completed inspections and identifying missed inspections.

For a more detailed description of how FieldDataPro can help you manage Safety Inspection data, see this blog post (How it all works).

Call us at (919) 323-3703 to set up a demonstration.

For more information, email us at info@fielddatapro.com.

http://www.fielddatapro.com/