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Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Schools Get F For Safety - What Do You Think?
Today's edition of the Patriot Ledger newspaper (South of Boston) reports on the results of quarterly inspections of the Quincy Massachusetts schools by the fire department. In some cases schools are repeatedly failing on the same issues, such as uninspected fire extinguishers and emergency lighting not working, for three or four inspections in a row.
The tone of the article seems to be that the fire department is being too harsh on the schools. For example, when one inspector found exit doors in a high school blocked by construction material and one chained shut. He wrote in his report: ‘‘Current conditions of the egresses need to be corrected before someone dies!!!’’ However, Fire Chief Timothy Pettinelli called this comment "outrageous".
Was such a strongly worded comment outrageous or appropriate?
To me blocked emergency exits and chained exits bring to mind fires in nightclubs in which hundred's died. But, what do you think?
Read the article at: http://www.patriotledger.com/articles/2007/10/30/news/news01a.txt
The tone of the article seems to be that the fire department is being too harsh on the schools. For example, when one inspector found exit doors in a high school blocked by construction material and one chained shut. He wrote in his report: ‘‘Current conditions of the egresses need to be corrected before someone dies!!!’’ However, Fire Chief Timothy Pettinelli called this comment "outrageous".
Was such a strongly worded comment outrageous or appropriate?
To me blocked emergency exits and chained exits bring to mind fires in nightclubs in which hundred's died. But, what do you think?
Read the article at: http://www.patriotledger.com/articles/2007/10/30/news/news01a.txt
Labels: safety
posted by Steve Hudgik - Go to this Workplace Safety Post |
2 Comments:
Blocked fire exits are never something to be ignored. For a school to not be meeting fire codes is unacceptable. They should be exceeding code requirements. The inspector's comments are completely justified.
What the heck?! "Outrageous" my left foot!
Timothy Pettinelli - You are not a shrink! You are not a diplomat! You are a fire chief! Your job is to protect people's lives, not their oh-so-precious feelings! Read those dimwits the riot act for endangering schoolchildren with their sloppy attitude towards basic fire safety! In front of a full-court press release, if that's what it takes to get them moving!
In case of a fire, goal #1 for "civilians" (myself included) is to get out of the area as fast as physically possible. A blocked fire exit can mean people choke on fumes or ash, or get flame-broiled alive while trying to escape through an obstruction that shouldn't have been there.
Try to imagine what it could be like in a real emergency at that school:
Imagine you're an average student. Studying, talking, doing whatever. Totally average day - usual thoughts and worries, planning for tomorrow. Just everyday stuff.
Then the fire alarms go off.
There's the first few seconds of "EEK! Fire?! Where!". You're caught off-guard, everyone is. People quickly start stampeding for the exits.
You run like hell on wheels to the nearest fire exit. Basic survival instincts are kicking in, trying to keep you from becoming BBQ'ed. One thought only - RUN!
As you get close to the exit, you see something that makes your heart pump ice water...the door is chained shut. A hefty padlock stands between you and safety. And the key is nowhere to be found.
Other people start piling up behind you, yelling at you to open the door. Some of them see the chain too. More panic. You start fumbling with the lock, try to pick it with something, wiggle the chain links.
It's no good. So you try to go back the way you came for another exit. Frantically you start fighting 'upstream' against the press of bodies. But you see smoke curling up by the ceiling and the glow of flames not far away. Trying for another way out seems your only chance, but can you find one in time?
Everyone's shouting, crying, shoving. A few minutes more and the smoke will start getting to you if the fire itself doesn't. Who put that chain there? Why? Why? Somebody help.......
...
Take this stuff seriously folks. Because it IS serious.
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