October 7, 2002—The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) has recently recommended that all university facilities including classrooms, dormitories, gyms, fraternity and sorority houses, be evaluated for effective safety features and systems.
A safety survey by an ASSE member of a 1950’s-era dormitory at a large state university found several significant safety deficiencies. The building’s fire alarm system dated back 50 years, to the time of original construction and consisted of manual pull stations and alarm bells at the exit doors. The three story brick and concrete structure included public foyers, common recreational rooms and lounges, plus the building manager’s office on the first floor, with sleeping rooms on the second and third floor. Fire protection features included portable fire extinguishers in the corridors and single station smoke detectors in each sleeping room.
As a result, it was recommended that the common maintenance and administrative problems be immediately corrected. It was also found that using the corridor as a return air space was a major problem because the smoke from a fire otherwise confined to a bedroom could rapidly spread into the corridor through the open, fixed louvers making it impassable in a short period of time. To correct this it was suggested that:
- return air ducts be installed and the grilles replaced with solid material;
- or fire sprinklers be installed throughout the building;
- or smoke detectors be installed in the corridors in conjunction with self-closing, cross-corridor doors arranged to automatically shut down the HVAC fans and release the cross-corridor doors in event of the detection of smoke.
Due to the difficulty and lack of ceiling space to install ductwork and the large investment needed for sprinklers in a building slated for demolition within a decade, the smoke detector and cross-corridor door option proved to be the most viable. The obsolete fire alarm system was replaced with the installation of horn/strobe notification devices throughout the building.
“Many campus buildings are extremely old and their safety features need to be reviewed in order to protect students, faculty and employees,” ASSE President Mark Hansen, P.E., CSP, said today. For any facility, ASSE recommends a thorough assessment of the problems, needs and resources and to address those needs immediately.
For more information, contact ASSE.
