By kathrynhyde1The importance of fire doors in Hospital & Healthcare settings
Fire doors are a critical safety feature of hospital and healthcare buildings, providing 30 or 60 minutes protection from fire, smoke and heat. As a crucial element of compartment design, hospital fire doors help to create compartments around wards and departments to contain the spread of fire and smoke, thus limiting the area that may be affected by a fire.
It is vital to provide a barrier to protect escape routes for as long as possible in the case of a fire, particularly when it comes to healthcare settings where the mobility of building users may be severely limited. Doing so will not only ensure the safety of building users, but also help to protect costly equipment which is fundamental to providing an ongoing service.
Unfortunately, fire doors in hospitals and healthcare settings are vulnerable to the inevitable wear and tear of high usage. Because of this, it is important that they are checked on a regular basis, with an inspection scheduled with a qualified fire door inspector should any potential issues be found.
