Does anyone know if it’s legal to deny a patient a stairwell, leaving elevators only accessible, in a hospital?
If not, would you know what agency to call?
Yes, this is actually taking place.
I’d start with OSHA.
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Local fire department…
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Good call. There are OHSA regulations about this very subject.
https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/hospital/hazards/fire/fire.html
Allan
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That is completely unacceptable. Elevators are not an appropriate means of egress. In most cases elevators are recalled to the ground floor in the event of a fire and are only usable by FD personnel.
Refer to NFPA 101 Life Safety Code and IBC Chapter 10 Means of Egress.
Violations can be reported to the local building department.
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Contacted someone I know who is a corporate safety officer & am waiting for a reply.
Trying to get ahold of local fire departments will get a bot voice, if any answer at all.
Finally got ahold of a more local OSHA office & had an actual human conversation. Some on line digging (sometimes hotels seal off a stairwell to go up so as to avoid transients and homeless taking residence there) showed if the stairwell isn’t blocked as a means of emergency exit, that’s legal.
Conversation with OSHA rep pretty much said the same, that if the stairs aren’t physically blocked as an emergency exit, they didn’t have rules on blocking them to ascend.
May make a complaint with hospital management as the response I got “blocked off because of COVID” made no sense, and hospitalizations taking place because of problems like heart disease, I’d think they would welcome substitution of elevators with stairs for the able bodied.
