A quick guide to hospital door maintenance
Fire doors are critical safety features in all buildings – but never more so than in a hospital!
Hospital fire doors provide a barrier from life-threatening smoke and fire whilst providing vital time for a safe evacuation of threatened areas and buildings. In complexes such as hospitals, where the infirm, elderly and vulnerable may be, this protection of escape routes, and the time these commercial fire doors provide for safe egress, could save many lives. Healthcare environments are usually busy buildings with heavy use on doors at entrances and passageways – often knocked by porter’s trolleys, mobile beds, wheelchairs and general staff and patients, these hospital doors must be hardwearing and of high quality.
Fire door examination
Fire safety responsibility is the jurisdiction of building owners and managers, who saw this particular safety aspect transferred to them through the introduction of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order in 2005. The Order states that every building MUST have a designated ‘Responsible Person’ whose duty it is to perform a fire risk assessment and take the appropriate steps to minimise those risks identified.
The Order rules that the Responsible Person must regularly inshttps://www.enfielddoors.co.uk/duties-of-the-fire-safety-responsible-person/pect all fire prevention ‘assets’ – items such as fire doors and all of their parts. The recommendations are that all hospital door frames and leaves should be checked at least every six months for any structural or superficial damage or ‘bowing’ that may reduce the doors safety efficacy.
Regular inspections should be scheduled and performed based upon the amount of traffic the hospital doors experience.
- A weekly inspection for busy routes involving hundreds of daily door openings and closures
- A monthly inspection for main entrances and corridor doors
- An annual inspection for quieter areas and office doors, plant rooms and such.
Fire door diagnosis
The gaps between door leaves and frames on commercial fire doors should be checked regularly to ensure that they do not exceed 4mm, as any change in this gap size could be the result of damage or wear to hinges and pivots and be indicative of greater damage that could affect the overall safety of the doors.
For hospital doors to be fully effective in the event of a fire outbreak, the seals MUST be in top condition. There are different types of commercial fire door seals that protect in the event of fire outbreak by restricting the flow of cold smoke and flames – if these intumescent seals are damaged or deteriorated, they will no longer be effective and will need to be replaced immediately. If there is a requirement to replace your hospital fire doors for any reason, then it is advisable to replace all seals at the same time.
See our quick fire door inspection checklist.
Costs and value
It is essential that hospital fire doors provide the necessary levels of protection but that they are also of a quality that reduces the cost of disruptive repair or replacement. They must also, especially in the current climate, be easy to clean and maintain to be effective in helping to protect from, and control, infection.
It is always recommended that any commercial fire doors are certified by an acknowledged and accredited third party within the industry. This reliance on durability and quality means that it is always advisable to purchase high-performance commercial fire doors as they will require less maintenance, repair and replacement therefore offering a lower lifetime cost.
Commercial hospital fire doors are available with different time-resistance against fire outbreak to cater for different requirements throughout the building.
Enfield Doors
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