Dont know if this may be of any use messy- Like you I was struggling to find anything definitive. This was a secure school for teenage children. Sorry for the length of the posting- if its not of use I guess Chris can delete it!
Xxxxxxx xxxxxx School- Specific risk assessment for the use of security devices on exit doors
A- The problem- hazards
The current arrangements for the security and availability of exit doors are unsatisfactory and require urgent review.
1- The system may be insufficiently robust as the doors are secure and can only be opened on the operation of the fire alarm system. Fire is by no means the only reason for possible evacuation of the building. Where electronic locks are fitted all the building codes consider it necessary to provide some mechanism for the door to be used independently of the operation of the fire alarm. Persons needing to leave the building in an emergency may be unable to do so unless their local fire alarm sounder is operating.
2- The doors appear to be linked to the local sounder circuits of the fire alarm system so the doors re-lock on silencing the alarm- making testing very difficult and leading to difficulty during fire evacuation procedures.
3- Testing is not carried out in accordance with and at the appropriate frequencies in accordance with the relevant standards
4- The school is completely unstaffed during holiday periods and false alarms during this time leave the building insecure. The current configuration of all alarms across the site leaves all buildings potentially insecure if an alarm operates in any one.
5- Due to the policy of total evacuation, it becomes inflexible for the senior manager to reallocate any members of staff to the areas of greatest need as all will be evacuating the students under their care to the assembly areas and none will have information on the location or nature of the emergency. Roll calls will be taken for all buildings and this may divert attention from the areas of greatest need
6- All students and staff will face the disruption caused by an alarm in a separate building and may suffer unnecessary distress
The Fire Authority, in their letter dated 28 February 2005, recommended a system incorporating emergency green break glass door release mechanisms in accordance with “section 3” of the “guidance on the acceptance of electronic locks required for means of escape” published by the Institute of Fire Engineers and CACFOA.
This advice would create potential difficulties for the school. There is an ongoing problem of the malicious breaking of alarm call points- recently an average 6 per month. The students are closely supervised but additional break glass devices would become an obvious target for malicious operation. This would very quickly create problems for the staff as security and supervision of the pupils is paramount due to their special needs. Such a system would not offer any impediment to a child wishing to abscond and may jeopardise the ability of the school to provide the appropriate level of care and
supervision. Malicious operation of the door break glass point would allow escape without operation of the alarm – thus further jeopardising the care of the child.
B- Persons at risk
The staff, students and the security of the business are placed at risk as a result of the current arrangements
The situation at Xxxxxxx House and other similar establishments is not unique- similar means of escape and security conflicts are encountered in some care homes, some types of hospital and some types of childrens remand homes. In such cases solutions are normally found by risk assessment and liaison with all parties involved.
C- Available guidance and existing control measures
There is considerable guidance on acceptable measures in a range of building design codes. Whilst none of them offer specific solutions, they all indicate a need for a flexible approach taking into account the circumstances of the case. Such documents include:
• The HTM series (Hospital technical Memoranda) ,
• The draft guide to fire precautions in existing residential care premises,
• Building Regulations approved document B,
• BS5588 series.
• Children’s Act 1989 ,
• National Standards under the Care Standards Act 2000
• Guidance on the acceptance of electronic locks required for means of escape
• Home Office 1990 Fire Standards in Prison establishments
However whilst all of the above documents consider the conflict between availability of exit and door security, in most cases the security considerations are in respect of persons breaking in from the outside. Only the “guidance on the acceptance of electronic locks” properly considers situations where for internal security reasons, persons inside the buildings may not be given immediate access to a mechanism which over rides the electronic door lock. (in section 4). It would not be reasonably practicable to implement the solutions suggested in this part of the document in this case due to the character and nature of the building.
Whilst none of these documents offer specific solutions appropriate in this case, they all suggest the need for risk assessment, liaison and agreement in special cases, between all parties with responsibility to oversee the fire safety measures at a premise.
All of the technical documents listed above do share some common ground. For example all documents:
• Do not consider an electronic door release on its own to be satisfactory as the sole means of opening a fire exit door without some other measure which may include a range of measures from an opening mechanism to video surveillance and remote control
• do not consider a mechanism requiring the use of a key to be acceptable,
• most do not support the use of number key pads on the risk side of a door.
• They do not recommend the connection of door release mechanisms to local sounder circuits and if this is the only way, then latching relays should be used.
• All components of the system to fail safe (Door open) and be designed, constructed and installed to a life safety standard and not breaching the recommendations of other standards eg BS5839.
• Electronic security devices must fail safe in the event of system or power failure- i.e. any failure causes the door to unlock.
Site specific factors- control measures
The special circumstances at the school to be taken into account are as follows:
• Xxxxx building apart, the buildings cannot conform to current design codes- the sleeping accommodation on the first floor of A block is served by two staircases, one being external, the main one having a number of rooms opening directly into it, without fire doors to a good standard. The fire resistance of elements of structure in the portacabin units cannot be accurately assessed
• In xxxxx Block there is two way travel though not in a protected route- and an unprotected dead end condition on the first floor teaching corridor though this is covered by automatic detection
• New fire alarm and detection systems have been installed in xxxxx Block - radio linked to an L1 standard. This system is fully addressable and has been configured to link in all other alarm panels across the site- though not addressable. A mimic panel has also been provided in a separate location.
• The students all have special educational needs and a secure environment is essential. Most are fully dependent on the staff for leadership and instruction in case of fire, though none of the current students have significant sensory or mobility impairment.
• Staffing ratios are very good with an average of 5 students per staff member under constant supervision at all times day and night
• Staff members have all received training in fire procedures
• It is most unlikely that in the event of a fire the students would need to use a fire exit door outside the direct supervision of their member of staff
• Visitors and contractors are not allowed unaccompanied access to the building.
Recommended additional measures to be taken
A. Each exit door should be provided with a means of opening by staff independent of the operation of the fire alarm. In this case the doors may be secured by mechanical keypad on the side from which escape is needed. Alternatively, subject to compliance with the relevant life safety technical standards, a swipe card or tally system would also resolve the security / escape conflict in this case.
B. The system should be reconfigured such that the door lock mechanisms are correctly wired back to the main panel rather than local sounder circuits, or if this is not possible, use latching relays of the life safety standard (see guidance document). It should be possible to test the door release mechanisms without the need to maintain the operation of the sounders.
C. The system should be reconfigured to allow the alarm systems in the out buildings to be tested without the alarms sounding across the whole site.
D. Whatever solution is adopted, it would be wise to incorporate the facility of access via use of a key from the outside of an exit door, so in the event of persons being trapped within the building, staff or firefighters can access the door from outside. This is relevant at the School as due to the age, character and nature of the building passive fire precautions can never conform to modern standards.
E. Regular staff training should be carried out to cover the reasons for the design and use of the access control system and should any combination be changed robust means of ensuring staff awareness of the new details
F. The evacuation procedures should be reviewed – consider the current full site wide evacuation strategy, the effective use of the alternative control position at the mimic panel, and communications with staff in an emergency
G. The alarm systems should be tested in accordance with BS5839. Daily checks, weekly tests and periodic inspection and test by an engineer should be carried out. For the older panels, during the weekly test it is important to check each alarm panel by operating a call point in each zone. The new installation should be tested in accordance with the manufacturer’s specification- more recent panels have much improved fault monitoring and reporting systems.
H. The alarm system should be monitored by a call centre.
All of the above points should be discussed and agreed with the enforcement agencies and alarm engineers before commencing work. It is presented as a reasonable compromise between the conflicts of escape and security in this special care environment
