works fire exit

[neil_loves_marie]

mother in law has been put on a disciplinary for leaving a fire door open at work.
the circumstances are as follows...
she works in a garage forecourt, all deliveries are delivered via the fire door, and this day the delivery driver left all the stuff by the fire door and blocked the door off, my mother in law took the stock in and has been given a disciplinary for this.

is it my thinking or is it law that deliveries must not come via the fire door and either through main door or a specified goods in door and not a fire door.

just need some help clarifying this matter.

[ojread2]

So, your MIL wqas clearing an obstruction and is now going to receive a disciplinary for it?
Did she close the door after removing the times in front of it?
The van driver here is of no irrelevance

[ojread2]

http://www.hse.gov.uk...plosion/workplace.htm

This might help - I've not read it

[boxtops]

The driver should not have blocked the fire door, but your mother did right in moving the stuff - so at what point did she "leave it open"?

[factor-fiction]

Did she wedge it open though. Maybe that was the problem.
However I agree the delivery driver shouldn't have blocked it

[HowardKennitby]

Was the door connected to any sort of alarm?

[ChuckFickens]

Is it a fire door, or a fire exit? you've used both in your question but they are different things.

[ChuckFickens]

To clarify... a fire exit may be left open, a fire door may not be left open.

[Maydup]

^^^ but even a Fire Door can be opened in order to use it and carry things through it. For example a door to a kitchen will be a fire door but goods and people will need to come and go.

MIL did the right thing by moving everything but maybe she left the door wedged open or stuck a box aganist it to keep it open? If she wenet away and left it like that I guess she's left the building unsafe. Its the length of time it was left open that I suspect is the issue.

[neil_loves_marie]

its a fire exit, there are 2 doors to her forecourt, the fire exit and the main entrance.
she left the door open while she bought stock in, its a pity she didn't leave the fire exit blocked and left the stock there to get nicked.

it was left open whilst she moved the stock inside then it was closed.

[buildersmate]

A fire door is for emergency evacuation of the building. The route that forms the exit corridor to the outside must not be blocked at any time. If the fire door is an external door, it normally has a crash-bar on the inside to allow quick access from the inside. It cannot have a conventional lock on it.

A fire door is constructed of fire-resisting material and it prevents the spread of fire within a building. It normally has a self-closing device on it. A fire door may be a external door to the outside. However it can be lockable and may have a sign on it saying it should be kept shut at all times.

A fire exit door may also be designed to restrict the spread of flames, so may be made of fire-resisting material.

If your MIL allowed a fire exit to be blocked, the manager may be correct in his/her disciplinary action.

If this is merely a external fire door that was blocked, the manager doesn't understand the fire regulations as applied to business/commercial premises.

There's nothing to stop goods coming in or out through either a fire exit or a fire door - just that a fire exit shall not have stuff blocking the escape route.

[buildersmate]

In the very first sentence of the above, the word 'exit' should have been inserted between 'fire' and 'door'.

[Zacs-Master]

Just to add, a fire exit should have a 'fire exit keep clear' sign on the outside. Sounds like if anyone needs disciplining it should be the delivery driver.

[Kerosene]

You haven't elaborated about this 'disciplinary' or what it entails? Has she been threatened with with either sacking or her wages being docked, or what?

Also, has she ever had to sign any kind of undertaking etc regarding this fire exit, or her conditions of employment? What I'm saying is, her employer has to show that she has done something in contravention to her job description etc.

It sounds a bit like a storm in a teacup.

[neil_loves_marie]

she has been told she can be dismissed.

every day a delivery comes in and is always delivered by the fire door.
(door has a grey bar, if i say door or exit you know what im on about LOL)

they have been delivering like this for years but noone else has been bought in for the delivery methods...

the driver blocked the door from the outside so she had to move stuff, open the door and move the stock inside while the door was open then once all inside she shut the door.

[ojread2]

I would ask, as my first question, why has no one ever told the delivery driver NOT to deliver items in that spot?

I think there is much more going on here that either you aren't saying or more likely your MIL hasn't told you

[factor-fiction]

Has she (or anyone else) had a previous warning related to this?

[themas]

From your description it seems the manager is at fault. You seem to be talking about a fire exit (not a fire door as described by bm). I can see no reason at all why it should not be opened to take something into the building & then shut again. So far as fire precautions are concerned it is not relevant at all unless it is not just a fire exit but also a fire door to prevent any fire which may start on the garage forecourt (is it a filling station?) spreading into the building. If that is the case, the manager should have made totally clear to all employees that it must not be used at all, & the deliveries should always be made through the other door.