I just had a discussion with one of our building inspectors regarding the direction a door swings from an electrical room or other utility room. I have an electrical room in a high fault part of the downtown. The door swings into the electrical room and I think that if there was a large energy fault like an arc blast or arc fault where an electricain might be set on fire would present a hazard to the workers. The BI mentioned a worker that drown in a sprinkler room because he could not open the door against the weight of the water.
There does not seem to be a Canadian building code reference that speaks to this. Any other codes address this and how? What about panic hardware? I expect a burning electrician or gas worker might have a problem turning a door knob and pulling the door in in a state of panic. Heck I don't think to many people can remember Stop drop and roll to smother flames.
