Why is it a rule in most public buldings to not stand in front or by a fire exit?(open door or not) it makes no sense to me if there was a fire I would just leave like everyone else.

It might be cause if there’s a fire people have to get out of the building quickly, and if someone is standing in front of it then the can’t get out.

@Tink1113
But I will move as well. Do you think I will say in front of the door as the fire alarms goes off to stop people from getting out?

I never heard of people not allowed to stand by a fire door, but I have heard a lot about not piling stuff in front of one, or chaining the handle, or otherwise preventing it from being opened.

Maybe they think you are an arsonist?

On second thought, maybe they just want you to get back to work instead of hanging out by the fire door. Why are you hanging out there, anyway?

I don’t get it either, I’ve always thought it was a dumb policy.

I was at this casino minding my own business, and this guy came up to me and said, “You’re gonna have to move, you’re blocking a fire exit.” As though if there was a fire, I wasn’t gonna run. If you’re flammible and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit. (Mitch Hedberg)

@Sarcasm….i was going to type that mitch hedberg quote. as soon as i saw this thats what i thought of, ha.

but really, thats all you need to say to answer this

@Sarcasm
The first time I heard that joke I laughed and felt annoyed because I came up with pretty much the same joke around two years earlier and now people are going to think I stole the joke.

Maybe the one person standing by the exit is the one d-bag whom won’t let anyone through. Maybe (I might be taking this a bit too far), he suffers from some form of depression and wants everyone to burn in case of fire.

Maybe. _

@Hatsumiko
But couldn’t he do this anyway when he leaves by the fire alarm when he’s anywhere in the building, because he’s going to come to a door somewhere?
I have to say I think it’s just s dumb rule.

OSHA has no requirement that people not stand in front of a fire exit, only that they not be blocked by materials, equipment, locked doors or dead-end corridors. OSHA also requires that no flammable or explosive materials or decorations be along the exit route. However, OSHA says absolutely nothing about standing in front of a fire exit.

Possibly someone is being over-zealous and considering you to be an explosive or flammable item, but there are other concerns. Telling you not to stand in front of a fire exit may be said not because of fire safety, but for security reasons. In a movie theater for example, someone could possibly open the exit door to let someone in who has no ticket. If a fire exit door is hooked up to an alarm system and you open it the noise could incite a panic in which people could be injured.

And finally, at work if you are standing in front of the fire exit, you obviously aren’t at your desk doing your job.

@Darwin
” In a movie theater for example, someone could possibly open the exit door to let someone in who has no ticket”
I would understand that if I worked there, though I think the person who use to tell me to move only did so because she would always go with rules and never asked herself do these rules make sense.

@allansmithee – My last statement is still a viable possibility.