# Walk In Coolers...........Exiting



## Marshal Chris (Feb 1, 2011)

While gandering at Lori Greens Blog, it reminded me of a discussion had in the office with an obvious difference of opinion.

I had returned from a restaurant inspection discussing the hasps on the access door to the coolers/freezers.  I was discussing how I wrote up to have the hasps removed.  IMO, it's part of the means of egress.

Whats your opinion?


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## cda (Feb 1, 2011)

Nah would not require it to be done

Some of the factory handles also have a means to lock them

Not sure if the inside stuff would override it or not?


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## mark handler (Feb 1, 2011)

How many times have you heard of a person being killed or injured because of a hasp on a cooler

Occupancy load, less than 1


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## Marshal Chris (Feb 1, 2011)

There are many things that I may not agree on but it the code.  Here's the basis for my issuance of the "violation"

EXIT ACCESS. That portion of a means of egress system that leads from any occupied portion of a building or structure to an exit.

1028.2 Locks and latches. Egress doors shall be readily operable from the egress side without the use of a key or special knowledge or effort, except as permitted by Section 1008.1.8.3.


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## mark handler (Feb 1, 2011)

Except many see it as a unoccupied area such as a mechanical room or storage closet.

If you have ever worked in a kitchen you know People typically spend less than a minute in there


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## hlfireinspector (Feb 1, 2011)

It's like entire building sprinkler system activations. It makes for good drama on TV but just don't happen in real life.


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## Marshal Chris (Feb 1, 2011)

Been wrong before, sure it wont be the last.  Didn't think the snyde comments were necessary though


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## mark handler (Feb 1, 2011)

Marshal Chris said:
			
		

> Been wrong before, sure it wont be the last.  Didn't think the snyde comments were necessary though


My comments?


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## mtlogcabin (Feb 2, 2011)

I agree with Marshal Chris they should be readily openable from the inside.


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## mark handler (Feb 2, 2011)

mtlogcabin said:
			
		

> I agree with Marshal Chris they should be readily openable from the inside.


When occupied, not locked.


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## FredK (Feb 2, 2011)

Well then why not change the jurisdiction standards to meet federal law on freezer/cooler?

http://blog.uscooler.com/index.php/2009/eisa-walk-in-cooler-freezer-standards/


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## mark handler (Feb 2, 2011)

FredK said:
			
		

> Well then why not change the jurisdiction standards to meet federal law on freezer/cooler? http://blog.uscooler.com/index.php/2009/eisa-walk-in-cooler-freezer-standards/


Fred, I see nothing on the webpages about egress, exiting, or locking devices?


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## LGreene (Feb 2, 2011)

I probably err too far on the side of caution, but since I never know what an AHJ will want to see, I don't specify locks that can lock anyone in anywhere.  I don't specify hardware for coolers, but it's hard to know where to draw the line.  If it's ok to prevent egress from a cooler, is it ok to prevent egress from a closet?

I thought you guys might like to see this old post from my blog:  http://idighardware.com/2009/12/emergency-axe-last-resort-only/


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## Builder Bob (Feb 2, 2011)

The factory installed locks on a walk in cooler tend to allow the door to open when the "safety" override is used..... Even if the outside door is padlocked. The handle on the inside of the cooler usually is a handwheel on a threaded rod that sucures the latch to the face of the cooler, if you unscrew the knob, the latch will allow the occupant to push the door open ---- even if it is padlocked from the outside.

http://www.kasonind.com/files/6312/4904/6491/0036IR.png


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## FM William Burns (Feb 2, 2011)

Only time I would consider using the Exit Access or Locks criteria of the codes for Coolers are for those being seen now where the public access them to view the cold rockies on the cans before they buy them. Sort of reminds me of the humidors I visited once     Or if I couldn't get out once in there.

I still don't know why I always go in them on inspections, must be that old Keg salesman in me from back in the day with AB....now that was a fun job.


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## mtlogcabin (Feb 2, 2011)

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/locked-in-freezer.htm/printable

So why would you permit a lock on the out side that would negate the performance of the required panic bar

OSHA Standards

The following OSHA standards are designed to protect employees who are subject to cold working conditions:2


*Standard 1910.37.* A panic bar or other means of exiting from the inside of walk-in coolers and freezers must be provided to prevent workers from being trapped inside.

*Standard 1910.132.* Employers must supply and enforce the use of Personal Protective Equipment (_PPE_) when employees are performing potentially hazardous tasks. When unloading delivery trucks during cold months or doing work in the walk-in freezer, employees must wear warm clothing to protect themselves from frostbite.

*Standard 1910.22(a)(2).* Floors in every workroom must be clean and dry. In walk-in refrigeration units, water or food that has been spilled can freeze and become a slipping hazard.


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## mark handler (Feb 2, 2011)

Are you charged to interpret/enforce OSHA standards?


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## mtlogcabin (Feb 2, 2011)

The point of the OSHA reference is to show there would be a requirement similar to IBC 1028.2 and the OP 's request of removing a hasp that was not installed by the manufacturer is not unjustified. Do a google search and see how many people have been locked in walkin coolers intentionally during a robbery. Being from So Ca look up hypothermia it can happen fast when you are in a t-shirt and the temp is about 10 degrees and no one is looking for you.


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## hlfireinspector (Feb 2, 2011)

hlfireinspector said:
			
		

> It's like entire building sprinkler system activations. It makes for good drama on TV but just don't happen in real life.


Didn't intend to be snyde Marshal. JMO


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## Yankee (Feb 3, 2011)

mtlogcabin said:
			
		

> The point of the OSHA reference is to show there would be a requirement similar to IBC 1028.2 and the OP 's request of removing a hasp that was not installed by the manufacturer is not unjustified. Do a google search and see how many people have been locked in walkin coolers intentionally during a robbery. Being from So Ca look up hypothermia it can happen fast when you are in a t-shirt and the temp is about 10 degrees and no one is looking for you.


Jus' wonderin, , can't one pull the stuff off the shelves and push open a glass door?And yes, I would not allow a lock on the service door unless there was an override from inside.


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## DAYWALKER (Feb 3, 2011)

Recently had a fire alarm installer inform me that they always install a panic button in walk in coolers. They figure when the bad guys come in......that's where the workers / public go. Makes perfect sense to me.......maybe it should be code required.


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## LGreene (Feb 3, 2011)

> Yankee:  Jus' wonderin, , can't one pull the stuff off the shelves and push open a glass door?


I think the coolers we're talking about are the big walk-in coolers/freezers that you find in the back of a restaurant - not the type with glass doors.


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## Marshal Chris (Feb 7, 2011)

> Jus' wonderin, , can't one pull the stuff off the shelves and push open a glass door?And yes, I would not allow a lock on the service door unless there was an override from inside.


Lori is correct, this is one for food storage in a kitchen and does not have the glass doors.  The lock would be a hasp and lock not allowing access from the inside of the unit.


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## TJacobs (Feb 7, 2011)

The day after you leave there will be one installed.


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## mark handler (Feb 7, 2011)

TJacobs said:
			
		

> The day after you leave there will be one installed.


Thief is a problem. To them, More than fire….


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## TimNY (Feb 7, 2011)

NYSED has used that section to require panic bars on the inside of shipping containers used at schools to store materials.  I think it is enforceable, at least in NY.

Most coolers have provision for a lock in the factory installed handle.

Got problems with thievery..  my advice is hire better staff or install an alarm.

Can't prevent them from doing something after you leave.  Must be compliant when I'm there.  And when I come back.  Court frowns on willful disregard.


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## LGreene (Feb 28, 2011)

I just read this article and thought of you all:  http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17498673?nclick_check=1

Worker trapped in freezer while El Cerrito restaurant fire burns

San Pablo Avenue Chinese restaurant badly damaged

By John Simerman

Contra Costa Times

Posted: 02/27/2011 08:44:45 PM PST

Updated: 02/28/2011 10:29:04 AM PST

Firefighters battling a blaze inside a Chinese restaurant in El Cerrito Sunday morning heard pounding from a walk-in freezer and found an employee locked inside.

The fire, at L & L Chinese Seafood Restaurant on the 10100 block of San Pablo Avenue, started in the kitchen after the worker lit up oil in kettles, then entered the freezer around 8:15 a.m. and could not escape, said Battalion Chief Michael Pigoni of the El Cerrito Fire Department.

Firefighters from El Cerrito and Richmond got the call at 8:41 a.m. and found heavy smoke and flames coming from the roof area and doors on the side and rear of the restaurant, near the kitchen. Responding with five engines, a truck and a breathing support unit, they put out the blaze within 15 minutes, Pigoni said.

The blaze caused major fire damage in the kitchen and smoke damage throughout the restaurant, said Pigoni, who estimated the equipment and structural loss at about $350,000.

The worker had remained locked in the freezer for about 35 to 45 minutes. He left unscathed, Pigoni said.

"It appears he comes in early to start prepping food, gets all the stoves up and running. He had gone into the freezer to get something and the door closed behind him. Something appears to have failed in the latch mechanism. We actually had to pry the door open to get him out," Pigoni said.

"The man was cold."


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## Pcinspector1 (Feb 28, 2011)

What about a bank vault, would it be treated the same on egress as this freezer?


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## mark handler (Feb 28, 2011)

Pcinspector1 said:
			
		

> What about a bank vault, would it be treated the same on egress as this freezer?


Any walk in storage room? It makes no difference, cooled or not.


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## BSSTG (Mar 1, 2011)

Greetings,

On a larger scale, I used to work maintenance for Borden's Ice Cream in Houston. We had freezers that were -25 to -35 F. Now on occassion we had to go in there for some work on the conveyor system or whatever and I promise that we always made sure there would be a way out. I'm with MC on this. Freezing to death or dying from exposure just isn't my preferred way to go. By the way, one of our maint guys was killed in one of those freezers when it was operation. He was crushed to death in some equipment. Bad seen.

Knowing what I know now, I would have to question their egress routes in much of that facility if it were in my jurisdiction.

Byron


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## JBI (Mar 1, 2011)

Lose the hasp. Get a better cooler, better quality of employees, anything but the hasp... If I really want to get IN your walk-in cooler the hasp wont stop me for long anyway.

Bank vaults are whole different beast than walk-in coolers, and almost impossible to get locked inside one.


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## mark handler (Mar 2, 2011)

JBI said:
			
		

> Bank vaults are whole different beast than walk-in coolers, and almost impossible to get locked inside one.


Toddler locks herself in bank vault

CONYERS, Ga. - Police are investigating how a toddler was able to wander into a bank vault just as the bank-vault timers activated, locking the girl inside.

Police rushed a technician to the Wells Fargo branch in Conyers at 90 mph so he could drill into the vault lock and rescue the girl.

She emerged at 9 p.m. EST after about three hours inside the vault, "crying a little bit, but doing well," said Deputy Chief Mike Lee of the Rockdale County Fire Department.

Lee said the girl's grandmother is a Wells Fargo employee at that branch, and the girl and her mother were visiting.

"During close-down this evening (about an hour after the 5 p.m. closing time), customers had left the bank.

The toddler walked off and walked into the vault just about the time the vault closed with its time-lock," Lee said.

The mother and grandmother realized quickly the girl had wandered off, Lee said. It was unclear how they found out that the girl was inside the bank vault, although they were afraid that she was. Their fears were confirmed when they heard the girl's cries through the multilayered steel door.

Also, bank employees viewed the bank's surveillance video, which showed the girl walking alone into the vault just before the door closed.

Lee said the girl was not in immediate danger.

"There was plenty of air in the vault for a toddler like that," Lee said. "The size of the vault would provide air for a good, long time."

But he said the speedy police escort of the technician was necessary because "it seemed like a good thing to do to get him in here a little faster in the traffic."

Jay Lawrence of Wells Fargo said "the toddler was safe the whole time. We could hear her, she was crying, which was certainly understandable. There was plenty of ventilation throughout."

The man whom Wells Fargo brought in to drill into the vault was "safe technician" Ron Snively, an independent contractor who knows how to use a drill in just the right spot on a bank-vault door in order to release the lock.

"Well, it's my job," Snively said. " I mean, this is what I do all the time. Other than a child being in there, it was a routine job. ... I do about 20 of them a year."

The girl's mother and grandmother declined comment. Neither the bank nor police released their names.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/2011/03/01/20110301georgia-toddler-locked-in-bank-vault.html#ixzz1FSalpFsi


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## LGreene (Jun 19, 2012)

I saw this article and thought of our discussion about egress from walk-in coolers.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2161216/Restaurant-owner-dies-getting-trapped-inside-walk-freezer-overnight.html


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