The Means of Egress

Egress is a general term used to refer to exiting a building or the exit routes that are available. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (2007), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Life Safety Code is the most widely used fire protection code in the United States, addressing such topics as providing means of egress from buildings. In general, the NFPA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (2007) have taken steps to define elements related to the means of egress along with the design of egress systems. Specifically, OSHA (2007) defines exit as that portion of an exit route that is generally separated from other areas in order to provide a protected way of travel to the exit discharge.

Exit access means that portion of the exit route that leads directly to an exit such as a corridor on the fifth floor of an office building that leads to a two-hour fire resistance-rated enclosed stairway. OSHA (2007) identifies exit discharge as part of the exit route leading directly outside or to a street, walkway, refuge area, public way, or open space with access to the outside of a structure. Exit route refers to a continuous and unobstructed path of exit travel from any point within a workplace to a place of safety, including refuge areas. OSHA (2007, p. 147) says that "an exit route consists of three parts: the exit access; the exit; and the exit discharge." An exit route includes all the vertical and horizontal areas along this route.

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case of a fire, a natural disaster, or some other traumatic event that endangered the lives of building occupants. The revisions, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (1996) were undertaken because the original standards were criticized because they were not written in terms that were amenable to enforcement, were not sufficiently specific to enable an ordinary businessperson or employee to understand them, were not exclusively concerned with worker safety, and included certain conflicts and inconsistencies. In other words, the U.S. Department of Labor (1996) said that the changes to OSHA's rules made them more in keeping with the NFPA's Life Safety Code provisions. Code enforcement, according to Environmental, Health and Safety Online (2008), is a function of booth OSHA at the federal level and local fire departments and building inspectors at the local level. In practice, OSHA rarely inspects unless complaints of a serious nature are lodged against a facility and its management. All structures are subject to regular inspection at the state or city level, but inspections are not necessarily undertaken in a timely manner and are subject to appeals. Environment, Health and Safety Online (2008) said that to enforce

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