Habanos Fined For Locking Fire Exits

By Greg Hluska

This story is absolutely disgusting.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2009/07/10/fire-violations.html

The owners of Habanos nightclub on Dewdney were fined a paltry $4,200 for padlocking their fire exits on two separate occasions.  Have the owners of this club ever heard of the Station Nightclub in Rhode Island?

The worst thing is that there is often a business need to secure fire exits.  Drunk people have a habit of doing silly shit, and fire exits (especially those located by parking lots) have a habit of being a centre for bizarre, drunken behaviour.  However, the owners of this club had many more options to secure their fire exits.  They could:

1. Post staff at the fire exits.  This is the most expensive (and least efficient) solution to a very real problem.
2. Install alarms on the fire exits so an alarm sounds when the doors are opened.  Computers make doing stuff like this really easy.
3. Install/monitor security cameras on the fire exits.  All responsible clubs should have security cameras installed/monitored – why not add a few more?

Instead, the owners/staff of Habanos appear to have chosen the most dangerous option imaginable.  What do you think of this?