Picture This! Emergency Exit Fail

Nearly everyone in the safety field has heard about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 in New York City, in which 146 workers died after being unable to escape the blaze because of locked exit doors. How this hazard can continue to occur in the modern world is mind-boggling, yet it still happens, even in North America. Case in point: A refrigerated food warehouse in Honolulu, HI was recently cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for a litany of hazards, including having 13 exit doors locked from the outside and sealed shut and having storage racks filled with pallets of product blocking emergency exits. Unicold Corp. is facing $251,330 in proposed fines for the alleged hazards, which also include process safety management issues, unguarded floor openings, emergency response plan deficiencies and inadequate electrical equipment.