by Michael O'Brian on May 25, 2009
Help I can’t See Out, Egress Lighting for Dummies
The lights flicker and then darkness. You lean over to your spouse and whisper “don’t worry the lights will come on, ” you hope.
Darkness.
Then panic sets in, I know which way we came in (I think), but why did the lights go out? Was it a fire, power outage, or wait which way is out? You struggle to get to the door along with the 500 others watching the band that night. You stumble around chairs, tables, and the stairs leading to the main exit, hoping to not lose your spouse as they cling tight to your arm.
This scenario could play out daily in many different types of occupancies on a daily basis. As a code official one responsibility [click to continue…]
by Michael O'Brian on October 16, 2008
The means of egress is critical to the safety of occupants in every occupied structure. When a fire situation occurs an integral part of the safety of the occupants is the proper function of the egress systems. There are several principals that means of egress is based on:
- Occupants will have choices on how to evacuate.
- The system will accommodate the number of occupants and provide some separation from the fire.
- The path is clear, illuminated and marked. This includes the simple fact the all aspects of the egress system are under the control of the occupant (excluding prisons of course).
Egress is not the only life safety system. A main idea behind egress is that life safety is typically related to time. [click to continue…]
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