Guest Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 Hi, I was wondering if anyone had experienced the same problem we have at the moment and have a solution to the problem. We have just moved premises to a shared building where there is a fire door with a bar to open it. One child who has SEN has an obsession to open the door and doesnt understand the safety issue. He can open it and as it opens out on to a car park is very much a safety risk. Obviously we cannot block the door as its a means of escape in emergency. Any ideas? (apart from a staff member at the door all session!) thanks Annabell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakley40 Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 H Annabell, We had the same problem with fire doors in the village hall were we run from.... I purchased some battery operated door alarms from the cheap shop - pound streatchers, approx £4.00. The work really well, maybe give them a try... Oakley 40 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louby loo Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 I believe you can get some kind of 'glass bolt' which can be easily snapped open in a real emergency. Haven't a clue where you get them though. x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristina Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 Hi A couple of years ago I worked at a setting with the same problem, when we had ofsted in we had to put a member of staff on the door for the remainder of the session (Ofsted request!). They told us to fit a slide bolt at the top and add to our risk assessment, in case of fire unslide bolt, end of session unslide bolt etc etc. As I said this was a couple of years ago so not sure if this is any help!! Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gezabel Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 Same problem here - well it was but not any more! Any suggestion of any type of bolt was dismissed absolutely by the fire officer. We have the battery operated door alarm. It is extremely effective - occasionally if near the door a child may accidently lean on the bar and though the door is technically 'open' it is barely 'ajar' really. Of course staff immediately move to close the door. No child has ever attempted to push the door further, in fact I sometimes wonder if they realise what they have done, they tend to 'freeze' until a member of staff has stopped the alarm by shutting the door! I appreciate your situation is rather more serious due to a child who does not understand the safety issue and the fact that the door opens into a car park but maybe the alarms would deter him good luck and let us know how you get on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louby loo Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 http://www.safelincs.co.uk/Redlam-Panic-Bolt/?fdb=true If the link works this was what I was talking about, and not to expensive really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 you need to teach the stop command if possible ( sorry sounds like my dog training!) you don't say what difficulty they have but perhaps a stop sign (pecs) and a firm no with makaton sign aswell. play stop games in the classroom and outdoors and repeat often. If you can teach this skill their future settings will be happy bunnies!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titchy Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 Door alarms work a treat, the children all stop and say oh no when they go off now. THe range do them to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 Thanks so much for your prompt replies. The door alarm sounds the best idea in our situation as Im not sure if the owners of our premises would want a glass bolt on. The alarm may be good too as he is afraid of loud noises so hopefully wouldnt want to keep repeating the action. Finleysmaid, we have been using the stop sign for 4 months now but it doesnt seem to have the disired effect. Infact it seems to make him worse, repeating the action again and again. We are struggling, but thats another story!! We arnt even at the stage of him joining in anything with the other children, so not able to play stop games, doesnt respond to any requests unless its to sit down for snack, he likes his food! Thanks all so much for your comments, Im going to see if I can order one today! Annabell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jenpercy Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 We have a special bolt and chain, just like the ones for home use, but the chain piece is removable so that at the end of each session, we can remove it and the door cannot be bolted by any other user of the building. OFSTED love this and it is not an issue with fire officers because the door could be forced open with a hefty push if absolutely necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 wasn't trying to teach grandmother to suck eggs!! sorry just trying to help have been in this position many times....does he have one to one help? sounds like he might need it! Problem is at some stage someone has to tackle the behaviour behind him opening this door or school will have a nightmare on their hands. We had to change the behaviour because we were not allowed to alter the fire door and had to have one that children could open themselves in case we were all overcome by fumes! Good luck . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddlermaddness Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 We have a special bolt and chain, just like the ones for home use, but the chain piece is removable so that at the end of each session, we can remove it and the door cannot be bolted by any other user of the building. OFSTED love this and it is not an issue with fire officers because the door could be forced open with a hefty push if absolutely necessary. Hello, hope you dont mind me butting in, this is my first post! hi to all lol We have had an issue with our set of fire doors, which we use as an exit and the end of each of session. This special bolt and chain, was it just brought from a diy store? We need something to put in place as soon as possible. Thanks xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 I work in an sen school and we have slide bolts on all of our fire exits. This works fine and there's never been an issue with it. The children are obviously never left in a room without an adult who can reach the bolt if there's an emergency. The door alarm sounds like it would work for your child because of his dislike of loud noises but I know that this wouldn't work for us because we have similar alarms on our fire alarms (a cover that has to be lifted to access the alarm and when it is lifted it emits a loud beeping noise) and a few of our children love to lift it to cause the noise so I suspect if we had one on the door these children would be constantly opening the door for the reward of the noise! I think you need to get your fire officer to think again about having bolts on. They open very easily when needed and it sounds to me that the risk of a child being injured by running into the car park is much greater than that of being trapped in a fire. Also in future you might have a child who enjoys the noise and in that case you'd be back to square one with the problem. Just my opinion! Hope you find a solution xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jenpercy Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 Hello, hope you dont mind me butting in, this is my first post! hi to all lol We have had an issue with our set of fire doors, which we use as an exit and the end of each of session. This special bolt and chain, was it just brought from a diy store? We need something to put in place as soon as possible. Thanks xxx bought it from a locksmith's but it wasn't expensive - no idea if you can get them from d-i-y Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jenpercy Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 the bolt and chain can be pulled open - or rather door can as the first few inches of opening allow movement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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