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A well placed fire exit sign proves critical during emergencies as it helps direct people out of the building in a quick and efficient manner. However proper placement of fire exit sings is also commonly overlooked which can cause misinterpretations and confusions during a fire emergency. So here is a brief guide on how and where to position fire exit signs in a building. 1. Understand the building layout. Before placing the signs, its very important to get an idea of the building layout. This helps you in analyzing the crowd movement and identifying choke points in case of a rushed evacuation. This knowledge helps you to place signs which can prevent choke points from happening and make sure the crowd exits the building smoothly. If you feel unable to properly analyse the crowd movement, consider asking for professional advice. 2. Where to position fire exit signs on doors, stairwells and corridors. Fire exit sings are best placed above the door and are supplemented with direction arrows. This ensures everyone knows where the exit is and which direction to go after passing the door. Generally when the direction arrow is pointed upwards it means that the person exiting the door should go straight ahead. The downwards facing arrow means that the person exiting the door will have to descend a level. The direction arrows should be placed properly and not mixed up as it can mislead people exiting the building. If you want people to use the stairwell after exiting the door to descend, then you can communicate it by placing the arrow diagonally towards the left or right, which way the stairwell is facing. It is a sound practice to place a sign pointing downwards after each landing if you want people to descend further. The signs should be placed on the walls of half-landings and should have the direction arrows point downwards to indicate further descent. Placing fire exit signs in the walls of lobbies and corridors instruct the crowd on the direction to progress further. Any change in directions while passing through corridors must be depicted by placing a sign at the junction. This eliminates confusion and panic and helps people exit smoothly and efficiently. Finally make sure that you place exit signs on both sides of the door used to exit the building. The inner sign indicates that the door will lead you out, while the outer sign should indicate the fire exit and that the path should not be obstructed. You can enhance this with bright yellow colour to get people's attention on the sign. You should not place any direction arrows on the door used to exit the building. While it sounds easy, and it is to a certain extent, placing fire exit signs can become complex as buildings get bigger and have many corridors and stairwells. In such cases its advisable to have an expert to take a survey of the building and suggest where to place fire exit signs. If you found the article helpful, make sure to check our other articles which can help you in picking the right signs for an emergency exit.
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