Emergency Door Locking Mechanisms

1. How to escape through an emergency door
Most of the emergency doors come with a manual override, and can be easily opened with the help of ‘press to exit button’ or with a ‘break glass override device’.

In fact, each and every security or access controlled locking system require either a mechanical or electro-mechanical override in order to escape through that particular door in case of an emergency like fire hazard or earthquake. Most of the fire door locks consist of a manual override and work just like any other conventional security system. And, all the other types of emergency doors especially those that work electronically are provided with special override arrangements to make sure that any person can easily open that door and pass through it to the safer side in case of a

• Deadlocks are used in order to secure an empty building, which are safely unlocked when the building is in use (for instance, locked during the night and unlocked during the day).

3. Locking mechanisms used in fire exits

The doors present on the escape routes are fitted with such locking mechanisms that are easy to open in case of an emergency and still maintain the security purpose of a building. The emergency doors are mostly easily operated without having a key. The different types of locking mechanisms used are as follows:

Panic bars-

These are also known as push bars are specifically designed keeping general public in mind who might not be familiar with a building and might panic in case of a fire or other hazardous event and have to evacuate the building immediately. These bars have a very easy to operate mechanism as only a minimal pressure is enough to release the locking mechanism. Panic bars are the most effective when a large crowd tries to escape through one door. These bars are fitted only to those doors that open outwards with a sign that reads ‘Push to open’.

Emergency push