What would you do?
Jeffrey Moore, PE, FSFPE, CFEI
Consulting Fire Protection Engineer - Author of “Industrial Fire Control Concepts”
“Hey, Boss,” said the Brash Young Fire Protection Engineer (BYFPE) as he rapped gently on the door frame of the Wise Old Fire Protection Engineer's (WOFPE) office. “I need to fill you in on a situation I encountered today during my survey of the Megacorp distribution center.”
“Did you gather everything needed to start the design of their new fire alarm system?” inquired the WOFPE. “We’ve got kind of a short fuse on that project.”?
“No, I didn’t,” explained the BYFPE. “That’s what I wanted to discuss with you. I thought the facility manager might have called you already.”?
“Not yet,” said the WOFPE, “but it sounds like you better fill me in on what happened.”
The BYFPE hesitated and then commenced an explanation, “The facility maintenance supervisor and I were surveying the facility and gathering measurements when he asked if he could ask me about the requirements for emergency exits. I said sure, and he proceeded to show me the exit doors around the perimeter of the building. Every exit door had a four-point, key-operated deadbolt lock.” He scrolled through some photos on his phone and stopped at one. Then, handing the phone to the WOFPE, he said, “This is what every exit door looks like,” explained the BYFPE as he showed the WOFPE a photo of an exit door equipped with a key-operated, four-point deadbolt lock.
“I know our scope of work for this project is limited to the fire alarm system, but there are between 250 and 400 people in this facility depending on the day of the week and the time of day,” explained the BYFPE. “With these locks on every door, they essentially have only a single exit from the facility, and that’s through security at the main entrance. I told the maintenance supervisor that this type of locking mechanism on an exit door was not permitted and was an immediate danger to the people in the building. He said the facility manager had them installed to prevent employee theft. There were reportedly problems with employees taking stock from the warehouse, going outside through the exit doors, and throwing it over the fence where friends and family members picked it up.”
“I stopped my survey and went to the facility manager to explain the situation to her,” continued the BYFPE. “I told her the facility wasn’t safe for the people working there and that if the fire marshal’s office came in, they could be cited, fined, or even shut down. All I could think of was the fire in that chicken processing plant we studied during training where twenty-five workers died, and over fifty were injured because the plant locked the doors to prevent theft of chicken nuggets, and the workers couldn’t get out during a fire. I said I couldn’t continue the survey for the fire alarm system under these conditions. She got agitated and told me I could just pack up, leave, and not bother returning. She would find someone else for the fire alarm system. I figured she immediately called you and complained.”
The WOFPE laid his glasses on the desk and looked at the BYFPE standing at the door. “Well, I haven’t yet heard from her, but don’t worry about it. You did nothing wrong. In fact, you did almost everything correctly. You can’t just ignore a serious problem because it doesn’t fall under your current scope of work. That’s not ethical or moral, professionally or personally.”
“That’s not the complete story,” explained the BYFPE with a slight cringe.?
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“Oh?” said the WOFPE with arched eyebrows, “Maybe you should make like Paul Harvey and tell me the rest of the story?”
“After the facility manager threw me out,” explained the BYFPE, “I figured I was already in trouble, but I couldn’t just ignore a situation that I thought posed a clear and immediate danger to all the people working in that facility. So, I drove to fire department headquarters, explained the situation to the fire marshal, and showed him my photos. He thanked me, lit out of there like, no pun intended, he was going to a fire and said that before he left, those doors would be open, or the place would be closed. I figured as soon as he showed up at the facility, you’d get a call from the facility manager, and I’d be looking for a new job.”
The WOFPE smiled and, with a note of assurance, said, “No need to worry. You’ve still got a job here, and you’ve got my admiration for doing it ethically and professionally. No fire protection professional should ever walk away from an obvious hazard just because identifying and correcting it is not in the scope of their work. What is the saying? If you see something, say something. And by the way, I was incorrect when I said that you did almost everything correctly. By contacting the fire marshal to make sure a dangerous condition gets resolved, you did everything correctly. That’s exactly what I would do.”?
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This is just one of the conversations between the Wise Old Fire Protection Engineer (WOFPE) and his young protégé, the Brash Young Fire Protection Engineer (BYFPE), found throughout?Industrial Fire Control Concepts?and collected in the new?51 Conversations with the Wise Old Fire Protection Engineer?by Jeffrey Moore, PE, FSFPE.?
51 Conversations with the Wise Old Fire Protection Engineer?contains the forty-six conversations between the WOFPE and the BYFPE contained in?Industrial Fire Control Concepts?and?five additional conversations not used in the book. The conversations between the WOFPE and the BYFPE provide background information and context behind many common questions, misconceptions, and methods used to make site-specific fire risk management decisions.?
Industrial Fire Control Concepts?is a fire risk management course in a book. Originally written as the textbook for the one-week Industrial Fire Protection Course taught for decades by Industrial Risk Insurers, this 540-page third edition, updated to reflect current technology and fire protection practice, maintains the original purpose of serving as a means of providing not only technical information but also explaining the fire protection decision-making process for those responsible for facility fire protection and fire risk management. The book uses practical examples and extensive color photos and graphics to explain the “hows” and “whys” behind an effective site-specific fire protection and fire control program.?
Both books are available on Amazon in printed and electronic (Kindle) versions. Electronic versions of both books are also available in the iTunes store for Apple Books. Email?[email protected]?for additional information or to obtain a fifty-page sample of?Industrial Fire Control Concepts. If you want more information on the origin and content of both books, listen to?Episode 63?of the Fire Code Tech podcast.
Discipline Lead, Fire Protection Engineering; Retired Firefighter / Paramedic; Former Virginia State Fire Marshal
1 年As I was reading the article, I was thinking “Hmmm, NC chicken processing plant…” and then, there it was. When I was in uniform, some of my coworkers thought I was “that guy”. We’d go out to lunch and I’d see an issue and they’d say “let us finish our lunch first”. On my last day, a group of us went out to some of the establishments in the County. My coworkers figured those businesses would be elated that I was leaving. They were surprised by the sincere appreciation that all of the businesses expressed (including one I had shut down and taken to court). One of them actually rotated all of their security personnel through so they could wish me well. Those businesses understood that I wasn’t “that guy”. Instead, they understood that I was trying to help them by trying to protect and improve their business. It’s all about how you approach the situation.