A video about classroom barricade devices - a particular company's devices, actually - has been posted on a Facebook page and has gone viral. Right now, about 14 hours after it was posted, it has over 3 million views. There are over 1,000 comments - many of them in support of this idea...
This Wordless Wednesday photo from Scott Straton of Allegion requires a bit of explanation. In Scott's words..."My niece was working out at 3:00 AM (she is an avid runner and had an early flight) at a hotel fitness room. When she went to get a drink of water, the lock failed and she was not able to get out..."
I love it when non-hardwarey people send me photos of egress problems or faulty fire doors. Today's Wordless Wednesday photo is from my friend Gia Jobin, who saw this door on a university campus and recognized that there was a problem...
We've all seen this somewhere. Did you say something? Was the problem resolved?
These photos were shared on the Truck Floor Training page on Facebook, and are posted here with the permission of Chris Morgani of the Fort Myers Beach Fire Department. In addition to the obvious problem, the door is welded shut. Maybe it's not a required exit, or maybe someone made an uneducated decision. We will probably never know...
Sometimes I wonder if y'all are creating these Wordless Wednesday and Fixed-it Friday photos just so you can get famous. :)
I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving with friends and family!
Today's Wordless Wednesday photo, sent to me by Aaron Owens of Allegion, is not an unusual code violation. The location is what leaves me wordless - an NHL hockey arena...
There are some AHJs who allow security measures that are not compliant for egress if they're only used "after hours." I always say that this is a slippery slope, because once the device is installed, there's no guarantee that anyone will remember that the door is supposed to be unlocked during business hours...
These Wordless Wednesday photos are from Erich Friend of Teqniqal Systems. According to Erich, the first photo is the initial egress door out of the auditorium. If you make it past the lab table, you encounter the trash can and piano stored in front of the exit discharge. No words...
This Wordless Wednesday photo kind of ties in with yesterday's pool gate post. This is NOT the way to provide access control on swimming pools, tennis courts, or any other chain link gate for that matter...
John Lozano from Allegion sent me this photo he took at a festival in Wisconsin...I've seen worse at the state fair, but this exit is a little sketchy...
This is the exit access leading to a 3rd-floor fire escape in a Montreal hotel. I'm Wordless.
According to Nathan Burkhardt of Opening Technologies, this church addressed their classroom security by adding shades for the vision lites, and changing the locks to office function with a turn-button. Because the kids and teachers were getting injured by the sharp turn-button design...
Who knew "Wordless Wednesday" translated so perfectly into Spanish? I think "mudo" is more like mute than speechless, but I'm going with it! I've become somewhat numb to Mexican egress, but some of the accessibility modifications are extreme enough to catch my eye...
Chris Ostwinkle from DH Pace sent me today's Wordless Wednesday photo. The bar above the panic limits the degree of opening, which may have contributed to the closer issues. And in case you missed it...that's a double-cylinder deadbolt above the panic, in addition to the slide bolt. :(
This is the rear exit of a liquor store. Although the store was closed when this photo was taken, on the other side of the door there is an exit sign, panic hardware, a surface bolt, and a padlock. This type of retrofit is common when additional security is needed, but it is NOT code-compliant...
Today's Wordless Wednesday photo came from the New York Daily News. The full article about the high-end furniture store being cited by OSHA for blocked egress routes and propped open fire doors can be read here...
Seriously...this Wordless Wednesday photo makes me want to cry. Posted with the permission of Ron Burgess Jr. of the Westport Fire Department (originally posted on the Truck Floor Training Facebook page).
The door in these Wordless Wednesday photos has 7 surface bolts, an exit alarm, a door position switch, AND a rolling door. Wow.
What I want to know is...why do some people think it's ok to use these locks after-hours, when the building is unoccupied? I don't see anything in the codes to support that, but it seems to be a common belief. Am I missing something?
Articles touting the value of classroom barricade devices without any mention of the related safety issues are legitimizing the use of these devices that are not compliant with the model codes. An article in this month's Security Management magazine, a publication of ASIS International, covers the perceived security benefits of the devices used in the Mentor, Ohio school district...
I've written quite a few specifications for museum projects and although many architects have asked me for "invisible doors," I do my best to talk them out of it. These are two different museums, in two different states, but these Wordless Wednesday photos were both sent to me the same week by two different people...
These photos from an Alabama day care center make me nauseous. Literally. I'm Wordless.
I've seen a lot of funky egress route restrictions in airports, but this was a first...
I have nothing to say except "thank you to Grah Security for today's Wordless Wednesday photo."
This Wordless Wednesday photo from John Gant of Allegion ties in with Monday's post about viewer locations. I've never seen a requirement for 3 viewers in a hotel room door, so my guess is that one of the viewers was originally installed at the wrong location and a third was added to solve the problem...
Jeff Payton of Williams Electronics sent today's Wordless Wednesday photo. I'm the first to admit that I'm not an expert on exit signs. If you ARE an expert on exit signs, can you explain the need for the high-level sign? If only the door closer installer had taken as much pride in the installation as the conduit installer. :)
This could definitely be a Wordless Wednesday photo, but I couldn't wait to share it so here's an excellent (terrible) Fixed-it Friday photo from Rachel Smith of Karpen Steel. Unbelievable.
I don't know why it still surprises me when I see blocked exits, but the good news is we'll probably never run out of photos for Wordless Wednesday. Don't forget to send me photos of what you see during your summer vacation!
I have to admit, these are pretty miraculous rescues...whether it was "divine intervention," the heroic efforts of firefighters, or the closed doors (and walls) that helped to keep the victims safe. A different type of Wordless Wednesday post for this week...
It's Wordless Wednesday!
Today's Wordless Wednesday photo came from RB Sontag of Allegion. This is a roof door (which really shouldn't be an emergency exit anyway) and I can't imagine how secure a chain wrapped around the lever would be, but if the exit is to be taken out of service they should talk to the fire marshal and change the signage...
I realized that what I was looking at was a removable mullion that was not mounted behind the doors as it was designed, but between the doors, leaving visible gaps along the lock edge of each door. The black spacers are needed...
I was going to post this for Fixed-it Friday, but when I noticed the manual flush bolt installed in the face of each door, I became Wordless. This exit is serving a theater. Thank you to Dean Benson of Northern Door for the photo...
The IBC allows key-operated locks in some locations - do you think this lock is compliant with the language below if the required signage is included? And for extra credit, who knows what kind of lock this is? :)
2015 IBC: 1010.1.9 Door operations. Except as specifically permitted by this section, egress doors shall be readily openable from the egress side without the use of a key or special knowledge or effort...
I can't believe how many photos of duct-taped doors I have posted (here are a few: 1, 2, 3)! Debbie White of Allegion sent me this one. Wow...
Why? Because it's easier and less expensive to secure the door when you don't consider codes or safety.
I'm at the BHMA Codes and Government Affairs meeting in sunny Fort Lauderdale, and the "public service announcement" below was just shown during our discussion about codes that pertain to the use of barricade devices in schools. It illustrates the marketing methods used by some of the manufacturers of these locking devices. I will remain Wordless, but you don't have to!
I received today's Wordless Wednesday photo from both Don Funsch of Commercial Mill and Builders Supply and Chuck Park of Fire Door Inspection Service. Be forewarned. Don't exit unless you're willing to be run over.
The Leelanau County Sheriff's Department received $128,750 from a Michigan State Police school safety grant, and Sheriff Mike Borkovich said every penny will go toward installing a tool designed to make doors impenetrable. "I think it's very much just like a caveman picking up a gigantic rock and putting it on the front of its cave," Borkovich said. "You are not going to be able to go through that door. It buys us time."
Today's Wordless Wednesday photo was sent to me by Lee Francisco and Jerry Rice of DH Pace. The "Remove for Exit" bar makes this exit non-compliant.
A bill to change the state fire code and allow barricade devices in Arkansas schools is moving through the legislative process, despite "strong objections" from State Police Capt. Lindsey Williams, who serves as state fire marshal. Several politicians including an Arkansas state senator are investors in a company that makes barricade devices - ULockitSecurity...
Most egress doors are required to be readily openable with no special knowledge or effort. The door must unlatch with one operation, and the operable hardware must be mounted between 34 inches and 48 inches above the floor. There are several problems with this Wordless Wednesday dutch door found at a cell phone store...
In the Wordless Wednesday photos below, one door is stuck partially open and the other pair has been taken out of commission. How do you balance the life safety requirements with the feasibility of addressing problems that will probably last for several more weeks if not longer?
These photos are the definition of Wordless Wednesday. I saw them posted on the Truck Floor Training Facebook page and asked for permission to share them here...
Paul Elliott sent me these Wordless Wednesday photos of retail egress issues he has run across. When he mentioned the dowel to a store employee, the employee said, "No problem. We’ll untie it if there’s a fire." No joke.
Since it's Wordless Wednesday, I'll let you tell me what's wrong with this "key-operated lock" application. Extra credit if you can tell me what changed about the key-operated lock requirements in the 2015 IBC...
Parents of middle schoolers at the W.F. Burns Middle School in Valley, Alabama, received the letter below asking them to send a canned food item to school for use as part of their school security plan. I'm going to keep Wordless on this one, so I can hear the opinions of all y'all...
