6.11 Means of Escape:

Purpose

(1) The purpose of this paragraph is to provide means of escape so that persons on board can safely and swiftly escape to the lifeboat and liferaft embarkation deck. For this purpose, the following functional requirements shall be met-

• (a) safe escape routes shall be provided;

• (b) escape routes shall be maintained in a safe condition, clear of obstacles; and

• (c) additional aids for escape shall be provided as necessary to ensure accessibility, clear marking, and adequate design for emergency situations.

General Requirements

(2) Unless expressly provided otherwise in this paragraph, at least two widely separated and ready means of escape shall be provided from all spaces or groups of spaces.

(3) Lifts shall not be considered as forming one of the means of escape as required by this paragraph.

Means of Escape from Control Stations, Accommodation Spaces and Service Spaces

(4) Stairways and ladders shall be so arranged as to provide ready means of escape to the lifeboat and liferaft embarkation deck from passenger and crew accommodation spaces and from spaces in which the crew is normally employed, other than machinery spaces.

(5) A corridor, lobby, or part of a corridor from which there is only one route of escape shall be prohibited, provided that-

• (a) dead-end corridors used in service areas which are necessary for the practical utility of the ship, such as fuel oil stations and athwartship supply corridors, shall be permitted where such dead-end corridors are separated from crew accommodation areas and are inaccessible from passenger accommodation areas; and

• (b) a part of a corridor that has a depth not exceeding its width is considered a recess or local extension and is permitted.

(6) All stairways in accommodation and service spaces and control stations shall be of steel frame construction except where the Administration sanctions the use of other equivalent material.

(7) If a radiotelegraph station has no direct access to the open deck, two means of escape from, or access to, the station shall be provided, one of which may be a porthole or window of sufficient size or other means to the satisfaction of the Administration.

(8) Doors in escape routes shall, in general, open in way of the direction of escape, except that-

• (a) individual cabin doors may open into the cabins in order to avoid injury to persons in the corridor when the door is opened; and

• (b) doors in vertical emergency escape trunks may open out of the trunk in order to permit the trunk to be used both for escape and for access.

(9) Below the bulkhead deck, two means of escape, at least one of which shall be independent of watertight doors, shall be provided from each watertight compartment or similarly restricted space or group of spaces; provided that, exceptionally, the Administration may dispense with one of the means of escape for crew spaces that are entered only occasionally and where the required escape route is independent of watertight doors.

(10) Where the Administration has granted dispensation under the provisions of subsection (9), this sole means of escape shall provide safe escape and stairways shall not be less than 800 millimetres in clear width with handrails on both sides.

(11) Above the bulkhead deck there shall be at least two means of escape from each main vertical zone or similarly restricted space or group of spaces, at least one of which shall give access to a stairway forming a vertical escape.

(12) Stairway enclosures including “horizontal stairways” in accommodation and service spaces shall comply with the following provisions-

• (a) they shall have direct access from the corridors and be of a sufficient area to prevent congestion, having in view the number of persons likely to use them in an emergency;

• (b) within the perimeter of such stairway enclosures, only public toilets and lockers of non-combustible material providing storage for non-hazardous safety equipment are permitted;

• (c) direct access to the stairway enclosures shall permitted only from the following spaces-

  • (i) public spaces;

  • (ii) corridors;

  • (iii) lifts;

  • (iv) public toilets;

  • (v) lockers of non-combustible material providing storage for non-hazardous safety equipment;

  • (vi) other escape stairways required by subsection (13); and

  • (vii) external areas;

• (d) small corridors or "lobbies" used to separate an enclosed stairway from galleys or laundries may have direct access to the stairway provided they have a minimum deck area of 4.5 m², a width of no less than 900 millimetres and contain a fire hose station.

(13) At least one of the means of escape required by subsections (9) and (11) shall consist of a readily accessible enclosed stairway which shall comply with the following provisions^footnote-

• (a) it shall provide continuous fire shelter from the level of its origin to the appropriate lifeboat and liferaft embarkation decks, or to the uppermost weather deck if the embarkation deck does not extend to the main vertical zone being considered;

• (b) where the latter case in paragraph (a) applies, direct access to the embarkation deck by way of external open stairways and passageways shall be provided and shall have emergency lighting in accordance with section 7.14 and slip-free surfaces underfoot; and

• (c) boundaries facing external open stairways and passageways forming part of an escape route and boundaries in such a position that their failure during a fire would impede escape to the embarkation deck shall have fire integrity, including insulation values, in accordance with subsection 6.7(46).

(14) Protection of access from the stairway enclosures to the lifeboat and liferaft embarkation areas shall be provided either directly or through protected internal routes which have fire integrity and insulation values for stairway enclosures as determined by Tables 6.1 and 6.2, as appropriate.

(15) Stairways serving only a space and a balcony in that space shall not be considered as forming one of the required means of escape.

(16) Each level within an atrium shall have two means of escape, one of which shall give direct access to an enclosed vertical means of escape meeting the requirements of subsection (13).

(17) The widths, number and continuity of escapes shall be in accordance with the requirements in the Fire Safety Systems Code.

(18) In addition to the emergency lighting supplied by the emergency source of electrical power, the means of escape, including stairways and exits, shall comply with the following provisions^{footnotefootnote}-

• (a) subject to paragraph (b) shall be marked by lighting or photoluminescent strip indicators placed not more than 300 mm above the deck at all points of the escape route including angles and intersections such that the marking enables passengers to identify the routes of escape and readily identify the escape exits;

• (b) alternative means of achieving safe escape other than lighting and or photoluminescent strips may be considered by the Administration where such alternative provides the same level of efficiency

• (c) the marking or alternative means of achieving escape must enable passengers to identify the routes of escape and readily identify the escape exits;

• (d) all electrically operated systems shall be operated from the navigation bridge or continuously manned Central Control Station and supplied by the emergency source of power;

• (e) lighting shall be so arranged that the failure of any single component will not result in the system or any part thereof being rendered ineffective;

• (f) additionally, escape route signs and fire equipment location markings shall be of photoluminescent material or marked by lighting; and

• (g) the Administration shall ensure that such lighting or photoluminescent equipment used in compliance with this subsection has been evaluated, tested and applied in accordance with the Fire Safety Systems Code.

(19) Cabin and stateroom doors shall not require keys to unlock them from inside the room. Neither shall there be any doors along any designated escape route which require keys to unlock them when moving in the direction of escape.

(20) Escape doors from public spaces that are normally latched shall be fitted with a means of quick release arrangement consisting of a door-latching mechanism incorporating a device that releases the latch upon the application of a force in the direction of escape flow; such quick release mechanisms shall be designed and installed to the satisfaction of the Administration^footnote. Power operated sliding doors should also comply with 6.7(35) (h), (i), (m) & (n).

(21) At least two emergency escape breathing devices shall be carried in each main vertical zone.

(22) Emergency escape breathing devices shall comply with the Fire Safety Systems Code. Spare emergency escape breathing devices shall be kept on board.

Means of Escape from Machinery Spaces

(23) Where the space is below the bulkhead deck, the two means of escape shall consist of either-

• (a) two sets of steel ladders, as widely separated as possible, leading to doors in the upper part of the space, similarly separated and from which access is provided to the appropriate lifeboat and liferaft embarkation decks, provided that-

  • (i) one of these ladders shall be located within a protected enclosure that satisfies category (4), as appropriate, from the lower part of the space it serves to a safe position outside the space;

  • (ii) self-closing fire doors of the same fire integrity standards shall be fitted in the enclosure;

  • (iii) the ladder shall be fixed in such a way that heat is not transferred into the enclosure through non-insulated fixing points; and

  • (iv) the protected enclosure shall have minimum internal dimensions of at least 800 millimetres x 800 millimetres, and shall have emergency lighting provisions; or

• (b) one steel ladder leading to a door in the upper part of the space from which access is provided to the embarkation deck and additionally, in the lower part of the space and in a position well separated from the ladder referred to, a steel door capable of being operated from each side and which provides access to a safe escape route from the lower part of the space to the embarkation deck.

(24) Subject to subsection (25), where the space is above the bulkhead deck, the two means of escape shall be as widely separated as possible and the doors leading from such means of escape shall be in a position from which access is provided to the appropriate lifeboat and liferaft embarkation decks and where such means of escape require the use of ladders, these shall be of steel.

(25) The Administration may dispense with one of the means of escape required under subsection (23) & (24) under the following conditions-

• (a) in a ship of less than 1,000 gross tonnage due regard being paid to the width and disposition of the upper part of the space;

• (b) in a ship of 1,000 gross tonnage and above where either a door or a steel ladder provides a safe escape route to the embarkation deck, due regard being paid to the nature and location of the space and whether persons are normally employed in that space and a space may include a normally unattended auxiliary machinery space.

(26) Two means of escape shall be provided from- a machinery control room located within a machinery space, at least one of which will provide continuous fire shelter to a safe position outside the machinery space.

(27) In the steering gear space, a second means of escape shall be provided when the emergency steering position is located in that space unless there is direct access to the open deck.

(28) On all ships, within the machinery spaces, emergency escape breathing devices which comply with the Fire Safety Systems Code shall be situated ready for use at easily visible places, which can be reached quickly and easily at any time in the event of fire and the number and location of such devices shall be to the satisfaction of the Administration and shall take into account the layout of the machinery spaces and the number of persons normally working in the spaces.

(29) The number and location of the emergency escape breathing devices required under subsection (28) shall be indicated in the fire control plan.

(30) All inclined ladders/stairways fitted to comply with subsection (23) with open treads in machinery spaces being part of or providing access to escape routes but not located within a protected enclosure shall be made of steel. Such ladders/stairways shall be fitted with steel shields attached to their undersides, such as to provide escaping personnel protection against heat and flame from beneath.

Escape from main workshops within machinery spaces

(31) Two means of escape shall be provided from the main workshop within a machinery space. At least one of these escape routes shall provide a continuous fire shelter to a safe position outside the machinery space.