Life Safety- Whats more important than getting out? __~NOTHING

MEANS OF EGRESS INCLUDING SPECIAL RULES FOR “EXIT ACCESS”

In order to fully understand life safety regulations as they apply to emergencies in the workplace it is essential to understand the definition of “Means of Egress” as outlined in NFPA 101.

3.3.136 Means of Egress.  
A continuous and unobstructed way of travel from any point in a building or structure to a public way consisting of three separate and distinct parts: (1) the exit access (2) the exit and (3) the exit discharge

As defined in NFPA 101. 3.3.136 (above) the means of egress has three separate parts, the first which is called the exit access .   This is literally the first door in the means of egress .

3.3.63 Exit Access.  
That portion of means of egress that leads to “the exit “

It can be a marked exit door from a room housing 50 or more people, an office or even a room with regular occupants that is used intermittently by a number of different people (e.g. communications room, copier room, lunchroom).

7.2.1.2
Every door and every principal entrance that is required to serve as an exit are to be considered as part of the exit access.

It is commonly thought that an office or a communications room are not part of the means of egress because they seldom have a lit emergency exit sign and sometimes are not occupied on a regular basis. This could not be farther from the truth. NFPA 101 states “every door” and every “principal entrance” that is required to serve as an “exit” are to be considered a part of “the exit access”. The key words are “principal entrance” and “serve as a principal exit.”

This is the first and one of the most important clarifications of NFPA 101.

Part two of the definition of a means of egress the "exit" is defined as:

3.3.62 That portion of a means of egress that is separated from all other spaces of a building or structure by walls, halls, and other construction to provide a protected way of travel to the “exit discharge”

In simple terms the “exit” is the middle part of the means of egress . This is where you are most likely to find lit exit signs. It will wind down hallways, down stairways, through working areas, until you reach the exit discharge. (Note: The means of egress will be well documented and diagrammed for all employees to see and depending on the size of the building; each floor may have a number of different “means of egress”).

The third part of the means of egress is the exit discharge.

3.3.64 Exit Discharge.
That portion of a means of egress between the termination of an exit and public way.

The exit discharge is normally the last “interior” door in a means of egress. It leads out of the building and to the public way.

The public way is the first “exterior” part of the means of egress .

3.3.275 Public Way
An exterior street, alley, or other similar route from the exit discharge to the designated assembly area.

The public way and the assembly area are the final two “exterior parts” of the means of egress . The public way is a route to the assembly area for the people leaving the building. The assembly area is a designated area at a safe distance from the building where people are asked to wait until the emergency has ended.