Safety Signs for Stairs in Auditorium

Auditoriums and theaters pose special safety concerns for access and egress during assemblies. The special concerns in large part can be focused on stairways, which must have, at a minimum, adequate directional signage and lightning to ensure the safety of patrons in the case of emergency in such facilities.

Stairway Markings

• The National Fire Protection Association, or NFPA, has compiled mandatory standards enforced by building code and fire protection professionals to ensure the safety of commercial and residential dwellings. This code, called the Life Safety Code, addresses the issue of stair signage requirements in general including auditoriums. This standard, although it addresses enclosed stairs of three to five stories in length, can be applied in general to stairs of lesser length as well as a best practice. In such applications, the standards would not be mandatory. NFPA standards dictate that signage be present on each floor or level indicating the floor level. Additionally, if there are multiple stairwells, signage should have nomenclature identifying the specific stairwell. Signage should be present at the top and bottom of the stair enclosure approximately 60 inches above the floor landing and visible whether doors to the enclosure are open or closed. Finally, stairwell signage should indicate the direction to the nearest exit discharge.

Stairway Lighting

• Steven Di Pilla in his book, Slip and Fall Protection: A Practical Handbook, advocates for the use of lighting in wall sconces and other sources to illuminate stairwells in auditoriums. The illumination can be a form of signage in its own right by lighting paths to exits. Some auditoriums use LED products embedded in the stairs themselves. This option can increase lighting and reduce risk of slip, trip and fall incidents within stairwells.

Exit Markings

• NFPA standards stress the importance of proper exit marking. Requirements include proper placement and visibility of exit signs. In the case of auditoriums, exits signs must be placed at exits and directional signage placed where the path of exit is interrupted or may not be immediately obvious. The signs themselves can be either internally illuminated or glow-in-the-dark. If the sign glows in the dark, it must be continuously illuminated on its face by a separate lighting source.

Other Safety Considerations

• Di Pilla also recommends auditorium employees including ushers and ticket takers give verbal warnings to patrons regarding stairs. Additionally employees should provide extra attention to spills or obstructions in stairwells in order to avoid trip, slip and fall incidents.