What southeastern US state has a law that mandates the doors to all public buildings must open outwards?

Answer 1

Alabama mandates that the doors to all public buildings must open outwards. It is worth noting that UL did a study of improvements that can be made to homes to make them more tornado proof. The best single improvement that they found was doors that open outward.

This mandate is for the safety of all people. It should be adopted by all States through installation of "panic hardware" which will ensure that no one is injured during any emergency evacuation.

I know that South Florida reguires outside doors to open outward, but this for the fire safety issue. You are against the door to get out in a fire and it opens out.

The question should have included why and when this law was put into force. The Cocoanut Grove Fire was the greatest killing fire in night club history. The club door set up caused people to jam up against the in opening in doors to get out which killed a lot of people with smoke, not fire. New England was a leader in this early law. The Cocoanut Grove was Boston's premier nightclub during the post-Prohibition 1930s and 40s. On November 28, 1942, occurred the scene of what remains the deadliest nightclub fire, killing 492 people (which in itself was 32 more than the building's authorized capacity) and injuring hundreds more. It was also the second-worst single-building fire in American history; only the 1903 Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago had a higher death toll, of 602. The enormity of the tragedy shocked the nation and briefly replaced the events of World War II in newspaper headlines. In both cases, most of those who lost their lives would have survived, had the existing safety codes been enforced. The tragedy led to a reform of codes and safety standards across the country.