School venues, office buildings, and large shopping centers are endowed with panic bars on the main access doors. They are an incredibly important addition to building security that will serve their purpose in case of an emergency. These bars are made of metal and they are fitted horizontally across the inside of a door. When pushed, the door gets unlatched, thereby allowing fast and easy access from the building.
Panic Bar Doors Streamline Emergency Evacuation
If you are running or managing a large office building with hundreds of employees and tons of daily foot traffic, installing panic bars on your exit doors is a must. In case the building needs to be immediately evacuated, people will usually panic and start to run chaotically. Having to pull the door or twist the doorknob in order to open the exit door for everyone to go out safely will make things harder. People can also trip and fall, and cause unfortunate stampedes.
In fact, what inspired the creation of panic bars were a series of unfortunate events in history. Among them, we can mention the incident at the Victoria Hall that happened more than two centuries ago. Sadly, 183 children lost their lives in a stampede, as they were unable to safely exit the building at the end of a show. More than 600 people died in a fire at a theater in Chicago later on as they were also trapped inside the burning building.
Panic Bars Keep Buildings Safer
Panic bars are not also true Godsends in case of emergency evacuation, but they can also strengthen security on a building. When installed by authorized locksmiths and security companies, they are likely to lower the insurance premiums. And they can also do a good job at keeping potential intruders and burglars away. Since they can only be opened outwards, from the inside, potential intruders will have a more difficult time making their way in. A brief search online for authorizedlocksmiths.com near me will introduce you experienced locksmiths who can assess your exact needs and install the right types of panic bars based on your particular needs and requirements.
You can opt for panic bars that feature alarm systems for an extra touch of security and receive alerts every time someone unauthorized is trying to make their way into your building. There are also cross bar panic bars or vertical exit bars to look into. Each of these models comes with its own set of features that make it unique and worth taking into consideration. Doing some research ahead of time prior to making a purchase will prove helpful. But you can also rely on a commercial locksmith service to install your panic bars of choice and get the free consultation you need. You could also get a nice discount on the total labor and parts prices.
In order to ensure your panic bars and all of your locks and alarms on your property will be working properly, they should only be fitted by commercial locksmiths who are authorized and insured/bonded.