Because our institutions are in Texas, the bulwark of fire/life safety regulation burden comes from the NFPA codes because that's what the State Fire Marshall has established. First thing first, I would start with NFPA 101. Do any of the rooms have an occupancy load greater than 49 people? If yes, then we need two exits. Is the distance from the remotest part of the occupancy to the place where there are two different paths out of the building greater than 75 feet (unsprinklered) or 100 feet (sprinklered)? If yes, then we need two exits. There are some other rules stipulating dead-end corridors and total exit width by floor and section of floor. But the general idea is that we start with 101 first. Now we can get into NFPA 45. Next, we need to identify the hazard class of each lab as defined by 4.2.1.1 using tables 10.1.1 and 10.1.5 as guidance. The hazard class of the lab will be the main driving force in determining that specific lab's egress standard and how much flammable liquid you can store. What kind of fire separation do the labs have? If you have an "A" lab, but that lab lacks fire separation, you'll have to start removing flammables from that lab until the class decreases. But even then, EACH "D" lab can possess 1 gal of flammables out in the open for every 100 sqr. ft. of lab space (Even class 1a), if the flammables are stored in flammable cabinets then that amount doubles! But there's a catch...is the lab used for instructional or educational purposes? If so, then there are restrictions in 4.2.2.Insturcional labs can only be a hazard class of C or D, and an instructional lab must either be a "D" hazard class OR possess 50% of the flammable volume of a class "C" laboratory. Now that we have ascertained our hazard classes we can proceed with the lab egress issues spelled out in 5.4. A second exit is needed when: (1) A laboratory work area contains an explosion hazard located so that an incident would block escape from or access to the laboratory work area. (2) A laboratory work area within a Class A laboratory unit exceeds 46.5 m2 (500 ft2). (3) A laboratory work area within a Class B, Class C, or Class D laboratory unit exceeds 93 m2 (1000 ft2). (4) A hood in a laboratory work area is located adjacent to the primary means of exit access. (5) A compressed gas cylinder larger than lecture bottle size [approximately 5 cm 33 cm (2 in. 13 in.)] located such that it could prevent safe egress in the event of accidental release of cylinder contents. (6) A cryogenic container located such that it could prevent safe egress in the event of accidental release of container contents. "Explosion hazard"? 4.3.2 leads much to the imagination. It doesn't really say who gets the final say in determining explosion hazards. To quote a coworker of mine: " Who determines? The local fire code official? The faculty member trying to implement the protocol? The poor bastard who gets hit by shrapnel? Or the poorer bastard who has to process the insurance claim? Limiting flammables for the whole building to 1 gallon for each chemical is overkill. You can have a 400 sqr. ft. class "A" lab with nearly 120 gallons of flammable liquids and still not need a 2nd exit provided NFPA 101 concerns are ok. BTW I'm a big fan of UMHB, I met my wife on that campus. Luke Leppla =A0 Safety Technician I EHSRM One UTSA Circle San Antonio TX. 78249 Ph. (210) 458-6697 =A0 =A0 =A0 -----Original Message----- From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Murphy, Dr. Ruth Ann Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 2:05 PM To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: [DCHAS-L] Fire Code for Lab My question is about exit requirements for chemistry labs. Does a policy limiting the amount of each flammable substance to one gallon or less in the entire building allow exits from different upstairs labs to lead to only one hallway? In other words, students from various labs would have to exit by the same hallway, and there would be no limit as to the number of flammable chemicals allowed - as long as each one was present in amounts less than one gallon. Natural gas lines would also be in the labs. Thank you for any help you can provide. Ruth Ann Ruth Ann Murphy, Ph.D. Chairperson Department of Chemistry, Environmental Science and Geology The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Belton, TX 76513-2599 254.295.4542
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