Corridor Safety Requirements

• Corridor: Any passageway connecting individual rooms and spaces to an exit door, stairwell, or other area of refuge
• Equipment: Anything requiring electrical power to operate (copy machines, ATMs, vending machines), or which occupies a permanent footprint on the floor
• Material: Other items such as file cabinets, desks, chairs

In general, the following restrictions apply to all corridors:

• Nothing may obstruct the required minimum width of a corridor.
• Corridors may never be used as routine work spaces.
  Note: Corridor safety requirements also apply to the pathway out of large rooms and laboratories. Unobstructed corridors are of little value if you can't get to them.

Any equipment, material, or activity obstructing passage through a corridor is prohibited. Specifically prohibited equipment, materials, and activities are described below.

• Maintain a clear area around corridor eyewashes, emergency showers, and fire extinguishers. Anything that interferes with the use of corridor safety equipment is prohibited.
• Never store or use hazardous materials in a corridor.
• Examples of items that are not permitted include, but are not limited to:
  • Refrigerators
  • Copy machines
  • ATMs
  • Storage cabinets (metal or wood)
  • Cardboard or wooden boxes
  • Pallets of chemicals
  • Trash or recycling receptacles
  • Compressed gas cylinders containing toxic or flammable gases
  • Water bottles
  • Flammable liquid storage cabinets
  • Small cryogenic liquid dewars
  • Decorative materials
    • Read Holiday Decorating Guidelines for more information.
• Remove unauthorized items promptly within the required timeframe:
  • Immediately if material is hazardous (compressed gases, hazardous chemicals, etc.)
  • Within 30 days if the item is non-hazardous

Note: If you're in a healthcare setting, fire safety requirements are more restrictive. Nothing can be stored in hospital or clinic corridors. Contact Medical Center Safety and Security Services, (619) 543-7575, for more information.

Note: Only equipment or material authorized and tagged by Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) may be placed in a corridor.

• Authorized equipment and materials must meet the following criteria:
  • Conform with state fire marshal regulations
  • Be secured against movement during an earthquake
  • Be noncombustible or of limited combustibility
• Equipment and materials that may be authorized by EH&S include the following:
  • Metal file cabinets equipped with positive-locking drawers to prevent inadvertent opening during earthquakes
  • Bulletin boards that meet the following requirements:
    • Greater than 4 square feet must have frames and glass fronts
    • Greater than 9 square feet must have locking mechanisms in addition to frames and glass fronts
  • Pressurized containers of liquefied cryogenic gases (e.g., nitrogen) secured to the wall with a top-ring tether
    • Review How to Handle Cryogenic Liquids for requirements.
  • Compressed inert gas cylinders, for storage only (e.g., argon, helium, neon, nitrogen, krypton, carbon dioxide), secured to a substantial, fixed surface with upper and lower chains
    • Review Compressed Gas Guidelines for requirements.
• Contact EH&S Fire & Life Safety, (858) 822-5706 or 534-3660, to request authorization to place equipment or material in a corridor. EH&S will tag authorized items to indicate approval has been granted.