Can a maintained primary school padlock all of its external exits? What about the fire/security implications?

[Guest Concerned Parent]

Hello!

My children go to a maintained London primary school. It has a number of buildings in a fairly small area with some limited open yards inside the school. The buildings within the school do have fire exits, however the entrances/exits from the school onto the street outside are all padlocked during the day (and can only be opened with a key).

I've raised this as a fire concern and the school has said that because there are a few open spaces inside the school, that they are not required to have "panic exit" locks on the external extrances onto the street outside that can be opened witout a key. Their argument is that if there's a fire, the children can just stay in the open yards inside the school.

I don't agree that's correct (looking at the applicable guidance), but does anyone have any experience or advice on this that I could use to take back to the school? It seems to me that if there was a fire in the buildings that it wouldn't be safe to stand next to them, even if it's an open air yard, and that it would be much safer to be able to escape onto the street outside.

Thanks!!

[Mike North]

I couldn’t possibly answer, there are too many questions that need to be answered.  

How large are the external areas

What is the internal layout

What are the escape routes

What is the age of the pupils

What is the mental capacity of the student

What you need is a fire risk assessment completing, considering legally the school will have completed one, do you want to pay for another one to be done?

[Hayfever]

Of course, Mike North is totally correct in his advice, but OP seem to be a parent of a child in the school who may have no access to the fire risk assessment or might not understand it if they did see it. Plus it will take some time to achieve

 

My view is that the possibility of  padlocks on what may be fire exits on a school building is so serious, it should be reported to the fire service as soon as possible. This is not about getting anyone into trouble or causing a fuss, its about ensuring the safety of vulnerable children 

The LFB will get a Fire Safety Officer - or in some cases the local fire station - to visit the school within a couple of hours of receiving the call. The LFB will be able to either give advice to the school if they've got it wrong or reassure you that the system is OK

Please use the phone number half way down this page rather than the email contact fields 

https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/contact-us/

Good luck