Two questions which appeared after the January 10^th Safety Seminar for the Department of Physics and Astronomy, were, "If my door has a door closer on it, when may I prop it open?", and "May I leave my office door open?"

The answer to these two questions can become rather complex, but in a nutshell, the answer from the Fire Marshall's office is a resounding "NO". This answer is resoundingly for doors with closers, AS WELL AS doors without closers, that is ANY DOOR WHICH IS TO, OR FROM, A HALLWAY (Corridor).

Here are the reasons:

1) Corridors are fire-rated and the doors are fire doors.
2) There are no fire walls in the trailer sections.
3) Lab doors have closers for both fire and crime reasons.

Some possible exceptions (which depend on the individual inspector who may be in the area) would be:

1) If there is someone in the room, the inspector might say nothing, since there is someone in the room to respond to an emergency.
2) Sometimes a person might want the door open for security reasons, but obviously, they should be closed when the office is unattended.
3) Lab doors should not be propped open for fire and crime reasons, unless there is motion through the doors, moving, that type of thing.