Author Topic: Service Corridor  (Read 4578 times)

Offline Mushy

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Service Corridor
« on: June 19, 2009, 01:16:20 PM »
Hi

scenario

50 metre protected hospital service corridor which is a designated escape route. Off the corridor there is a mortuary, laundry, plant room, postal sorting office, sewing room and supplies. all the rooms have fire doors with hold open devices. All the rooms have alternative escape either to outside or into a different compartment.

Supplies have had a lot of their storage space taken over by a conference room...so supplies have packed the service corridor with stores all along the length of wall. This corridor is also home to metal crates and wheelie bins full of confidential shredded paper waste in paper bags.
There is also shed loads of oxidising agent stored in there.

There are about 50 people working off this corridor

There is an L1 fire alarm system about to be commisioned (it was L2)

The firecode states that there should not be any storage in means of escape corridors or hospital streets

If carrying out a FRA of this corridor...lets say the ignition sources are, plant room, electrical equipment in the rooms (computers etc) the laundry and of course arson...would you class this as low risk as the guy who did the last risk assessment assessed it as (done by means of a matrix system)

cheers

Offline nearlythere

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Re: Service Corridor
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2009, 02:07:18 PM »
I would suggest Mushy that the reason for keeping escape routes clear is primarily to ensure that they are unobstructed for escape purposes rather than a particular fire risk. Storage could be deemed a fire risk if there is a risk that it could be exposed to an ignition source otherwise if the storage is secure (it can't fall over onto the escape route) and there is little risk of it igniting then is there really a problem? The rooms off the corridor have fire doors.  Controlling the excessive build up of combustibles may be the way. The oxidising agents could be an issue eased by placing in proper storage.
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Offline Mike Buckley

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Re: Service Corridor
« Reply #2 on: June 22, 2009, 04:41:48 PM »
The guidance notes for the RRO all state that furnishings in Means of Escape must be non combustable. So basically here we have a designated escape route which is filled with combustable materials. There are no indications from the original message as to what the stores are however there are bags full of shredded paper which will burn well.

If you decide that the corridor does not need to be a means of escape then you have to ensure that travel distances etc. are not compromised. For example you state that the rooms off the corridor all have alternative escape however if you take out one escape route you may well change the travel distances from escape in more than one direction, to escape in one direction only.

As far as ignition sources are concerned are there electrics in the corridor or ceiling space? Who has access to the area? Can visitors, patients or staff use it for a crafty drag?

Personally I would say stick to the firecode unless you are prepared to change it from being a means of escape corridor into a long room and the doors into the long room need to be locked shut.
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Offline nearlythere

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Re: Service Corridor
« Reply #3 on: June 22, 2009, 05:49:35 PM »
"However, depending on the findings of your
risk assessment and, where more than one
escape route is available
, items such as those
below may be acceptable if the minimum exit
widths are maintained and the item presents a
relatively low fire risk:
• non-combustible lockers;
• vending machines; and
• small items of electrical equipment
(e.g. photocopiers).
• small areas of clothing and/or small
quantities of upholstered furniture which
meet BS 717648 or the Furniture and
Furnishing (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988
(as amended 1989 and 1993).94"
We're not Brazil we're Northern Ireland.