An NHS Estates and Facilities Alert dated Dec 3rd 2015 advised of a recent incident were an elderly patient was knocked to the floor by self closing cross corridor doors that were released during a power failure. The fall resulted in head injuries that ultimately contributed to the patients death.
A risk assessment template for self closing doors was included in the alert and recognises that BE-EN 1154 permits a variation on closing speed of between 3 and 25 seconds. The actual closing speed needs to be based on the likelihood of harm, but in any premises where the frail and elderly may be moving about unescorted, clearly, the slower the closing motion, the safer the occupants will be.
With regards to the remote, manual release of self closing fire doors that are held open; BS 7273:4 states that to avoid risks to people using the door, the remote release device should be within clear vision of the doors that it release?s. Alternatively where the doors are not clearly visible from the location of the manual release, the manual release device should be clearly labelled, and on activation of the manual release mechanism, an audible warning device should operate in the vicinity of the doors. That?s what the standard says, but I?ve never seen it in practice.
