Fire safety becomes everyone's job at a worksite. Employers should train workers about fire hazards in the workplace and about what to do in a fire emergency. This plan should outline the assignments of key personnel in the event of a fire and provide an evacuation plan for workers on the site. Knowing the answers to the questions below could keep you safe during an emergency.

• How would you escape from your workplace in an emergency?
• Do you know where all the exits are in case your first choice is too crowded?
• Are you sure the doors will be unlocked and that the exit access, such as a hallway, will not be blocked during a fire, explosion, or other crisis?
• Is your facility properly marked for easy evacuation?
• Is important fire fighting equipment properly marked and identified and in proper working order?

Considerations include the type of structure, the number of persons exposed, the fire protection available, the type of industry involved, and the height and type of construction of the building or structure.

In addition, fire doors must not be blocked or locked when employees are inside.

Delayed opening of fire doors, however, is permitted when an approved alarm system is integrated into the fire door design. Exit routes from buildings must be free of obstructions and properly marked with exit signs.

• Make exit route design permanent.
• Ensure that the number of exit routes is adequate based on the number of employees, the size of the building, its occupancy, and the arrangement of the workplace.
• Separate an exit route from other workplace areas with materials that have the proper fire resistance-rating for the number of stories the route connects.
• Ensure that exit routes meet width and height requirements. The width of exit routes must be sufficient to accommodate the maximum permitted occupant load of each floor served by the exit route.
• Ensure that doors used to access exit routes have side hinges and swing in the direction of travel (depending on occupancy and hazard areas).
• Design exit routes that lead to an outside area with enough space for all occupants.
• An outdoor exit route is permitted but may have additional site-specific requirements.
• Maintain the fire-retardant properties of paints and solutions that are used in exit routes.
• Ensure that required exit routes and fire protections are available and maintained, especially during repairs and alterations.
• Ensure that employee alarm systems are installed, operable, and in compliance with 29 CFR 1910.165 (Note: See Section I.A.5.).
• Direct employees through exit routes using clearly visible signs. These signs must meet the required letter height and illumination specifications.
• When openings could be mistaken for an exit, post appropriate signs stating “NOT AN EXIT.”
• Arrange exit routes so that employees are not exposed to the dangers of high hazard areas.
• Exit routes must be free and unobstructed. Prevent obstructions, such as decorations, furnishings, locked doorways, and dead-ends within exit routes.

In rebuilding the Pentagon, planners determined that emergency exit signs traditionally placed above doorways could not be seem through the smoke and flames by people crawling to safety. Designers chose photo luminescent signs to mark exit paths and doorways. The rebuilt Pentagon now includes new floor-level, glow in the dark arrows pointing toward exits.

Are you providing a safe exit from your facility in the event of an
emergency or blackout situation?

The ASTM (American Society for Testing & Materials) E 2030-02 standard provides a "Guide for Recommended Uses of Photo luminescent Safety Markings" to supplement emergency lighting. Photo luminescent  marking should include the following:

• Continuous Wall and Floor Markings in Corridors 
• Marking of Exit Doors and Emergency Exits
• Non-exit doors inside of escape stairs
• Marking of Stairs, Ramps and Handrails
• Obstacles, Protrusions and Other Hazards
• Fire Fighting Equipment
• Escape Route Plans should be provided on each floor
• At any Exit Door leading to a stair, a sign should be provided that identifies the stair.  
• In Stairs, a sign should be provided on each floor landing that
  identifies the stair, the floor, and whether re-entry into the building is acceptable.  

Visual Guide to Fire & Exit Safety Marking Guide

The SetonGlo components are non-electric, non-toxic and non-radioactive. Using the latest  photo luminescent technology, the SetonGlo pigment absorbs and stores normal ambient light. In the event of a sudden power outage, the stored energy is immediately visible, enabling the SetonGlo Safety Guidance System to provide a safe illuminated path through dark stairwells, hallways and rooms.

The SetonGlo Safety Guidance System is easy and low-cost to install, and because there are no bulbs to burn out, the system is virtually
maintenance-free, periodic inspection, for 25+ years.
 

• Glo Brite Photo-Luminescent Exit Signs
• SetonGlo Exit & Path Marker Signs
• SetonGlo Exit & Directional Signs
• SetonGlo Pathway Marking Tape
• SetonGlo Luminous Dots & Arrows
   

Exits must never be obstructed. Any door or passageway that is not an exit or  path to an exit must be identified with a sign that reads 'Not An Exit' or  a sign that indicates its actual use, such as storage.

All exit signs must either be self-illuminating, or illuminated by a reliable external light source.

See 29 CFR Part 1910.36 for details about all requirements.

NFPA Life Safety Code 101

3-7.3.1  Stairs serving five or more stories shall be provided with signage within the enclosure at each floor landing.  The signage shall indicate the story, the terminus of the top and bottom of the stair enclosure, and the identification of the stair. The signage also shall state the story of, and the direction to, exit discharge. The signage shall be inside the enclosure located approximately 5 ft (1.5 m) above the floor landing in a position that is readily visible when the door is in the open or closed position.

3-7.3.2  Wherever an enclosed stair requires travel in an upward direction to reach the level of exit discharge, signs with directional indicators indicating the direction to the level of exit discharge shall be provided at each floor level landing from which upward direction of travel is required. Such signage shall be readily visible when the door is in the open or closed position.

Exception No. 1: This requirement shall not apply where signs required by 3-7.3.1 are provided.

Exception No. 2: Stairs extending not more than one story below the level of exit discharge where the exit discharge is clearly obvious shall not be subject to this requirement. (101:7.2.2.5.5)

3-7.3.3  The sign shall be painted or stenciled on the wall or on a separate sign securely attached to the wall.

3-7.3.4  Letters and numerals shall be of bold type and of contrasting color to the background.

3-7.3.6  Roof access or no roof access shall be designated by the words "Roof Access" or "No Roof Access" and placed under the stairway identification letter. Lettering shall be a minimum of 1 in. (2.5 cm) high bold block lettering.

Exception: Existing approved signs.

3-7.3.7  The floor level number shall be placed in the middle of the sign in minimum 5 in. (12.7 cm) high bold block lettering. Mezzanine levels shall have the letter "M" or other appropriate identification letter preceding the floor number, while basement levels shall have the letter "B" or other appropriate identification letter preceding the floor level number.

3-7.3.8  The lower and upper terminus of the stairway shall be placed at the bottom of the sign in minimum 1 in. (2.5 cm) high bold block lettering.

3-7.3.9  These signs shall be maintained in an approved manner.

• Fire Safety OSHA Fact Sheet
• Emergency Exit Routes (OSHA Fact Sheet)
• Fact Sheet for High-Rise Building Evacuations
• How to Plan for Workplace Emergencies and Evacuations
• Quick Fire Safety Guide
• Federal Register 67 FR 67961, Nov 7, 2003

• Emergency Response
• Fire Protection