tmurray
SAWHORSE
Here is some new explanatory language proposed for the 2020 code here in Canada. Thought it would make for some interesting reading:
Exit Doors Concealed with Murals Some people with cognitive disabilities such as dementia are at risk of wandering away from the residence or healthcare facility in which they are being treated. To reduce this risk, some residences and healthcare facilities install special hardware on egress and exit doors that can only be operated by designated persons. This solution keeps residents/patients from wandering, but the doors can still trigger anxiety in residents/patients who may nevertheless try to leave the space through them, without success.
Recent studies have shown that applying murals (of a landscape, for example) on exit and egress doors in these environments can help reduce anxiety in people with cognitive disabilities who tend to view them as a pleasant natural barrier rather than as a means of escape.
Where this solution is implemented, the murals must be applied with care so that they do not conceal or impair the operation of any fire and life safety systems installed nearby, including, but not limited to, exit signage, emergency lighting, fire alarm devices, sprinklers or door hardware. Egress and exit doors with murals must be reasonably discernible to residential care or healthcare staff who will be required to assist residents/patients in the event that the space must be evacuated, and to visitors who will be expected to evacuate on their own. If these doors are not reasonably discernible, an alternative means of egress from the space should be provided (it is expected that designers and authorities having jurisdiction will use judgement in determining whether or not an alternative means of egress is required).
Exit Doors Concealed with Murals Some people with cognitive disabilities such as dementia are at risk of wandering away from the residence or healthcare facility in which they are being treated. To reduce this risk, some residences and healthcare facilities install special hardware on egress and exit doors that can only be operated by designated persons. This solution keeps residents/patients from wandering, but the doors can still trigger anxiety in residents/patients who may nevertheless try to leave the space through them, without success.
Recent studies have shown that applying murals (of a landscape, for example) on exit and egress doors in these environments can help reduce anxiety in people with cognitive disabilities who tend to view them as a pleasant natural barrier rather than as a means of escape.
Where this solution is implemented, the murals must be applied with care so that they do not conceal or impair the operation of any fire and life safety systems installed nearby, including, but not limited to, exit signage, emergency lighting, fire alarm devices, sprinklers or door hardware. Egress and exit doors with murals must be reasonably discernible to residential care or healthcare staff who will be required to assist residents/patients in the event that the space must be evacuated, and to visitors who will be expected to evacuate on their own. If these doors are not reasonably discernible, an alternative means of egress from the space should be provided (it is expected that designers and authorities having jurisdiction will use judgement in determining whether or not an alternative means of egress is required).
