Door lock secrets exposed

Polyframe Livingston teamed up with its local fire crew to deliver training on identifying door locks that can be breached quickly.

The Green Watch crew from Livingston Fire Station visited Polyframe’s 50,000ft2 site in Livingston to learn about the three most common door locks that firefighters would face during a call-out, and how they could tackle them in an emergency.

Green Watch then set about breaking into the locks and found that they could only break one of them with the readily available tools.

Martin Linden, managing director of Polyframe, Livingston, said: “We all know that seconds count in a fire, literally making the difference between life and death, so this was an important exercise for the crew. We examined the different locks and talked about the common techniques used to snap the cylinder. The crew could not break some of the higher security locks.

“If they were to face those locks in an emergency, they would eventually have to cut through the door or break it down to gain entry – all of which obviously costs valuable time. Thanks to this training, the team now knows which locks they can’t break quickly and, if they encounter them in a real-life situation, they can break the door without wasting time working on the lock.”

John McKenna, watch manager at Livingston Fire Station, said: “We now have a greater understanding of modern door construction and the steps we would need to take when attempting entry. We were all impressed with the Polyframe door, which was fitted with high security hardware – we think it would be easier for us to gain access through the building wall if we came across one of those doors.”