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Emergency Access & Egress
Emergency access and egress are critical during an emergency situation such as a fire. During a fire, timing and quick response are essential to save lives and property. Effective emergency access ensures that fire trucks can reach a building in time to extinguish the fire. Unobstructed emergency egress ensures that building occupants can exit a building to safety.
These definitions help clarify the concept of emergency access and egress:
| Emergency Access | Pertinent facilities and equipment remain available and unobstructed at all times to ensure effective fire detection, evacuation, suppression, and response. |
|---|---|
| Emergency Egress | A continuous and unobstructed way to travel from any point in a public building to a public way. A means of egress may include horizontal and vertical travel routes, including intervening rooms, doors, hallways, corridors, passageways, balconies, ramps, stairs, enclosures, lobbies, courts, and yards. |
¡IMPORTANT!
Each location within a building must have a clear means of egress to the outside. The following sections offer safety guidelines and procedures for maintaining emergency access and egress.
Corridors, Stairways, and Exits
¡IMPORTANT!
There must be at least 44 inches clear width of unobstructed, clutter-free space in all corridors, stairways, and exits.
Follow these guidelines to promote safe evacuation in corridors, stairways, and exits:
- Keep all means of egress clean, clutter-free, and unobstructed.
- Do not place hazardous materials or equipment in areas that are used for evacuation.
- Do not use corridors or stairways for storage or office/laboratory operations. Corridors may not be used as an extension of the office or laboratory
Fire Lanes
A fire lane is an area designated for emergency personnel only. It allows them to gain access to building and/or fire protection systems. Although most fire lanes on campus are clearly marked, not all fire lanes are easy to distinguish. Texas State University - San Marcos has a program in place to clearly mark all fire lanes. An exit corridor and/or stairway is a pedestrian pathway that allows direct access to the outside of a building and/or allows access to a building entrance and subsequent pathways to the outside of a building (i.e., an exit corridor is the quickest, easiest, and most direct pathway for leaving a building.) Because exit corridors or passageways are the primary means of egress during an emergency, employees must follow the safety guidelines outlined in this section.
¡IMPORTANT!
Do not park in fire lanes or within 15 feet of fire hydrants and other fire equipment.