Ralph,

I grabbed my copy of NFPA 45 this morning. I think you'll find the references you are looking for in section 5.4.  That's the discussion on means of egress and the swing of doors. It depends on whether the lab is classed as A or B (swings out) or C or D (can swing in or horizontally/sliding).  There's related language in that section that you will need to also pay attention to that tells you whether or not you have to have a secondary exit and location of cryo containers is one of the deciding factors.  Something that kind of gets missed occasionally is that in some weird way that decision to have a secondary exit also invokes the requirements for emergency lighting. I'm not as familiar with that connection as I used to be. In all cases, the parent standard that it then points you to is NFPA 101, Life Safety.

Kim

Kimberly Begley Jeskie, MPH-OSHM
Operations Manager
Physical Sciences Directorate
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Office: (865) 574-4945
Cell: (865) 919-4134 - Note that this is a new number
-----Original Message-----
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of Ralph B Stuart
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 9:55 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Door swing in NMR room?

A question has arisen here with regard to the direction of the entrance door swing in a room containing an NMR. Some people have suggested that due to the asphyxiation potential of a quenching of the instrument, the door should swing out of the room into hallway. Does anyone know of a regulatory requirement for this or a reference that suggests that this be used as a best practice?

Thanks for any help with this.

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart CIH
Laboratory Ventilation Specialist
Department of Environmental Health and Safety
Cornell University

rstuart**At_Symbol_Here**cornell.edu

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