RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMISSION

PREVENTION OF FIRE
The Commission therefore recommends on the subject of prevention of fires the following:
Fireproof receptacles. There shall be provided in every factory building or manufacturing
establishment a sufficient number of properly covered fireproof receptacles, to be placed as may
be directed by the First Commissioner of the City of New York, and elsewhere by the
Commissioner of Labor, in which shall be placed all inflammable waste materials, cuttings and
rubbish. Waste materials, rubbish and cuttings shall not be permitted to accumulate on the floors
of any factory or manufacturing establishment, and the same shall be removed therefrom not less
than twice during each day. All rubbish, cuttings and waste materials shall be entirely removed
from a factory building at least once in each day.
Gas Jets. All gas jets or lights in factories or manufacturing establishments shall be properly
enclosed by globes, or wire cages, or shall be otherwise properly protected.
Page 40
Smoking. Smoking in all factories or manufacturing establishments shall be prohibited. A notice
to that effect setting forth the penalty for violations thereof shall be posted on every floor of such
establishments in English and such other language or languages as the local Fire Commissioner
or Fire Marshal shall direct.

N.Y. LAB. LAW 281 : NY Code - Section 281: Fireproof receptacles

Every factory shall be provided with properly covered fireproof receptacles, the number, style
and location of which shall be approved in the city of New York by the fire commissioner and
elsewhere by the commissioner. There shall be deposited in such receptacles waste materials,
cuttings and rubbish of an inflammable nature. No waste materials, cuttings or rubbish shall be
permitted to accumulate on the floors of any factory but shall be removed therefrom not less than
twice each day. All such waste materials, cuttings and rubbish shall be entirely removed from a
factory building at least once a day, except that baled waste material may be stored in fireproof
enclosures. All such baled waste material shall be removed from the building at least once a
month.
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/LAB/11/3/281

N.Y. LAB. LAW 282 : NY Code - Section 282: Gas jets and other lights
All gas jets and other lights in factories shall be properly enclosed by globes or wire cages or
shall be otherwise properly protected in a manner approved in the city of New York by the fire
commissioner of such city and elsewhere by the commissioner.
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/LAB/11/3/282

N.Y. LAB. LAW 283 : NY Code - Section 283: Smoking

No person shall smoke in a factory. A notice of such prohibition stating the penalty for violation
thereof shall be kept posted in every entrance hall, elevator, stairhall and room of a factory in
English, and in such other languages as the fire commissioner of the city of New York in such
city and elsewhere the commissioner shall direct. 2. The board in its rules may permit smoking in
protected portions of a factory, or in such classes of occupancies where in its opinion the safety
of the employees will not be endangered thereby. The fire commissioner of the city of New York
in such city and elsewhere the commissioner may issue such permits in accordance with rules
adopted by the board. 3. The fire commissioner of the city of New York in such city and
elsewhere the commissioner shall enforce this section.
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/LAB/11/3/283

NOTICE TO OCCUPANTS IN CASE OF FIRE

The Commission gave much thought and attention to means of notifying the occupants of a
building in case of fire. After consideration of the facts before it, the Commission is of the
opinion that the dangers from panic and excitement caused by any alarm, such as the ringing of a
bell indicating on which floor the fire had occurred, when the alarm might be false or the fire
slight and readily controlled, outweighed the advantage to be gained. Therefore the Commission
does not at this time recommend any automatic fire-alarm system, save as may become
necessary in connection with the operation of a fire drill hereinafter provided for.

FIRE DRILLS
The Commission personally witnessed fire drills in factory buildings, and some testimony was
taken upon this subject. The Commission believes that in factory buildings where more than
twenty-five persons are regularly employed above the second story, a fire drill should be
conducted. One of the purposes of the fire drill should be to indicate to the occupants where the
stairways are, and the means of reaching them. It has been found in many of the larger buildings
where the occupants use the elevators to go to and from their work, that the location of the stairs
or exterior fire-escapes is unknown. A fire drill at any [A line is evidently missing here.] vision,
and the Commission is therefore of the opinion that the drill should be supervised by the local
Fire Departments. A fire drill is also extremely useful in preventing panic. While of course not so
effective in the case of occupants of a loft or factory building as in the case of school children, it
undoubtedly would go far in preventing a mad rush towards the exits. If the fire drill...
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...accomplishes nothing more than to acquaint the occupants of a building with the different
exits, to compel them to use those exits at stated intervals, and to keep them clear and
unobstructed, it will have served its purpose. The periodical fire drill will constantly bring to the
minds of employee and employer alike the possibility of fire and the necessity for using every
proper means to prevent the same. The Commission makes the following recommendation:
Fire Drills. In every factory building or manufacturing establishment in which more than 25
persons are regularly employed above the ground or first floor, a fire drill of the occupants of
such building shall be conducted at least once in every three months under the supervision of the
local Fire Department or one of its officers. Every employer and employee shall aid and assist

such Fire Department and its officials in conducting such fire drill. In the City of New York the
Fire Commissioner, and elsewhere the State Fire Marshal, is authorized and directed to prepare
appropriate rules and regulations to make effective this provision; said rules and regulations to be
posted on each floor of every such factory building or establishment.

N.Y. LAB. LAW 279: NY Code - Section 279: Fire alarm signal systems and
fire drills
Fire alarm signal systems. Except as may otherwise be provided by the board in its rules, every
factory building over two stories in height in which more than twenty-five persons are employed
above the ground floor shall be equipped by the owner thereof with a fire alarm signal system
having a sufficient number of signals clearly audible to all occupants of the building, and so
arranged as to permit the sounding of all the alarms within the building whenever the alarm is
sounded in any portion thereof. Such system shall be maintained in good working order and no
person shall tamper with same or render ineffective any portion thereof except to repair it. A
person discovering a fire shall cause an alarm to be sounded immediately. The board of standards
and appeals in the city of New York and elsewhere the board may make rules and regulations
relating to the installation of fire alarm signals and prescribing the number, character and
location of the signals and the method and character of the installation including that of all
appliances in connection therewith. 2. Fire drills. Except as may otherwise be provided by the
board in its rules, in every factory building over two stories in height in which more than twentyfive persons are employed above the ground floor, a fire drill shall be conducted at least once a
month in which all of the occupants of the building shall participate simultaneously and which
shall conduct all such occupants to a place of safety. In New York city the fire commissioner and
elsewhere the board shall make rules, regulations and special orders necessary or suitable to each
situation and to secure the personal co-operation of all the tenants of the building in a fire drill of
all the occupants thereof. Such rules, regulations and orders may require the posting of the same
or an abstract thereof and may prescribe upon whom shall rest the duty of carrying them out. 3.
Exceptions. Subdivisions one and two of this section shall not apply to a building in which every
square foot of the floor area on all stories is protected with an automatic sprinkler system having
two adequate sources of water supply and approved by the public authorities having jurisdiction

thereof and in which also the maximum number of occupants of any one floor does not exceed
by more than fifty per centum the capacity of the exits, as determined by subdivisions one, two,
three and four of section two hundred and seventy-eight. If the commissioner after investigation
determines that the spirit of this chapter is observed and public safety secured he may permit in
place of the automatic sprinkler system before specified an automatic sprinkler system having
one adequate source of water supply and approved by the public authorities having jurisdiction
thereof. 4. The provisions of this section shall be enforced in the city of New York by the fire
commissioner of said city and elsewhere by the commissioner.
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/LAB/11/3/279

PREVENTION OF SPREAD OF FIRE

Reference has already been made to the size of windows leading to balconies connected with
exterior fire-escapes. In some cases these windows are too small in size to admit the free passage
of a grown person. The windows are usually of ordinary glass which does not resist fire at all.
The flames break through these windows, and the result is that no protection whatever is
afforded to those going down the fire-escapes. The use of wired glass instead of ordinary glass
would serve as some means to check the flames and would give the employees on the upper
stories who are compelled to resort to the exterior fire-escapes a much wider margin of safety.
Fire Departments are unable to reach with their ladders any point above the seventh story of a
building or more than ninety feet above the ground. Therefore ordinary precautions are
insufficient to safeguard properly the workers above the seventh floor. Much testimony was
taken upon the use and efficacy...of automatic sprinkler systems. The Chiefs of various Fire
Departments testified that one of the greatest means of preserving life, especially in high
buildings and in those where wooden trim is used, is an automatic sprinkler system. This system,
briefly, consists of a tank, usually upon the roof of the building, containing a large supply of
water, communicating with pipes which run along the ceilings on the various floors. At regular
intervals in these pipes are placed what is known as "sprinkler heads," fastened with fusible nuts
which automatically break and discharge a flow of water when exposed to a certain degree of
heat. The automatic sprinkler confines the fire to a limited area and checks it in its incipiency.
Testimony as to the efficacy of sprinkler systems varies, but the lowest estimate of their proper
working is 75 per cent and the highest 95 per cent. Proof was given that in the New England
mills where sprinkler systems have been in use for many years, there was only one loss of life
where a sprinkler system was installed, and in that case the water supply for the system was cut
off just before the fire occurred. The installation of an automatic sprinkler eventually pays for
itself in the form of a reduction of fire insurance premiums granted where the system is installed.
Such reduction of premiums is allowed, however, only if the system is one approved by the
National Board of Fire Underwriters, consisting of representatives of all the fire insurance
companies in the United States. This Board has approved of only a few systems, and the
manufacturer who desires to obtain benefit of a reduction of insurance must install one of these
approved systems. Testimony was given indicating that there was some arrangement or
understanding by which high prices were charged for these sprinkler systems.

It was also testified that any competent plumber could install a sprinkler system which would be
effective in the case of fire.
The installation of the automatic sprinkler system has been recommended by Fire Chiefs
throughout the State, and by nearly all of the experts on the fire problem. The Commission does
not desire to make any drastic recommendation on this subject, but it is convinced that in
buildings over seven stories or 90 feet in height, in which wooden floors or wooden trim are
used, and more...than 200 people are employed above the seventh floor, the only safe means to
prevent the spread of fire and the loss of life incidental thereto would be the installation of an
automatic sprinkler system.
Chief Kenlon of the New York Fire Department testified that had an automatic sprinkler system
been installed in the Triangle Waist Company building, he believed that not a single life would
have been lost. If manufacturing is carried on above the seventh story of a building, or 90 feet
above the ground, the manufacturer should be required to furnish every possible device to
safeguard the lives of his employees in case of fire.
The Commission therefore makes the following recommendations:
Windows of Wired Glass. All windows and doors leading to outside fire-escapes shall be not
less than two feet in width by five feet in height, and shall be constructed of wired glass.
Automatic Sprinklers. In all factory buildings over seven stories or 90 feet in height in which
wooden floors or wooden trim are used, and more than 200 people are regularly employed above
the seventh floor, the owner of the building shall install an automatic sprinkler system in the
form and manner approved by the Bureau of Fire Prevention in the City of New York and in all
other parts of the State by the State Fire Marshal. Such installation shall be made within one year
of the passage of the law carrying this recommendation into effect, the Fire Commissioner of the
City of New York, and the State Fire Marshal elsewhere, to have the discretion to extend such
time for good cause shown, for an additional year.

N.Y. LAB. LAW 280 : NY Code - Section 280: Automatic fire extinguishing
systems
Every factory building erected before October first, nineteen hundred thirteen, which is more
than one story in height and which has any occupancy specified by the board in its rules as of

medium or high hazard below its uppermost floor, shall be provided by the owner thereof with an
automatic fire extinguishing system. In every non-fireproof factory building constructed after
October first, nineteen hundred thirteen, which is more than one story in height and which has
any occupancy specified by the board in its rules as of high hazard below its uppermost floor, the
story containing such occupancy and all stories above it shall be provided by the owner thereof
with an automatic fire extinguishing system. The automatic fire extinguishing systems required
by this section shall be approved in the city of New York by the fire commissioner in such city
and elsewhere in accordance with the rules of the board. The relative hazard of occupancies
within said city shall be as determined by the board of standards and appeals thereof. The
provisions of this section shall be enforced in the city of New York by the fire commissioner of
said city and elsewhere by the commissioner.
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/LAB/11/3/280

ESCAPE FROM WORKROOMS

The Commission ascertained by investigation and testimony, that exits to outside fire-escapes
and to interior stairways, especially when they lead through other portions of the loft, were often
unknown to many of the operatives. It certainly is necessary to indicate clearly the location of
these exits.
A contributing cause to the loss of life in the Triangle Waist Company fire was the lack of clear
passageways leading to the...
Page 45
...fire-escapes and stairways. The employees were so crowded together, seated at tables
containing machines, with chairs back to back, that when a great number of them attempted to
leave at the same time there was panic and confusion. The following is a diagram showing the
arrangement of the sewing machines, and the congestion prevailing on the ninth floor of this
building, where most of the deaths occurred.

In the report made by the Superintendent of the New York Board of Fire Underwriters, it was
stated that 20 dead bodies were found near the machines "apparently overcome before they could
extricate themselves from the crowded aisles." The condition which prevailed in this building

obtains in many similar buildings. The necessity for clear and unobstructed passageways to exits
should be absolutely insisted upon, otherwise with the slightest panic, even without a fire, severe
injuries, if not loss of life, would occur.
The Commission has already commented on the width of doors and windows leading to outside
fire-escapes. It has also found that the doors leading to stairways are too narrow. This is
especially so in the old converted tenements where these narrow doors are a source of danger in
case of panic or fire. The first rush is always for the doors. The attempt upon the part of a
number of persons to pass through at one time leads to a jam, and if the doors are dangerously
narrow, many would lose their lives. When there are only a few persons employed upon a floor a
narrow door is not a serious objection, but where a number of persons are employed, regard for
their safety requires that such dangerous conditions be remedied.

N.Y. LAB. LAW 274 : NY Code - Section 274: Fire-escapes erected before
October first, nineteen hundred and thirteen
All outside fire-escapes erected before October first, nineteen hundred and thirteen, and serving
as required exits under the provisions of section two hundred and seventy-one shall conform to
the following requirements: 1. There shall be balconies on each floor of the building connected
with stairways placed at an angle of not more than sixty degrees. 2. A stairway shall lead from
the top floor balcony to the roof, except when the fire-escapes are erected on the front of the
building. 3. A stairway not less than twenty-two inches wide shall lead from the lowest balcony
to a safe landing place beneath, which stairway shall remain down permanently or swing up and
down by counterbalancing weights. 4. A safe and unobstructed exit shall be provided to the street
from the foot of such fire-escapes as required in subdivision nine of section two hundred and
seventy-three. 5. Steps shall connect the sill of every opening leading to the fire-escapes with the
floor wherever such sill is more than three feet above the floor level. 6. All openings leading to
the fire-escapes shall be provided with fireproof windows or fire doors. 7. All windows opening
upon the course of the fire-escape shall be fireproof windows.

NY Code - Title 3: FIRE HAZARD.

Findlaw. (2015). NY Code - Title 3: FIRE HAZARD. Retrieved 20 April 2015, from
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/LAB/11/3
Remembering the 1911 Triangle Factory Fire. (2015). Cornell University - ILR School - The
Triangle Factory Fire - Report - Recommendations of the Commission. Retrieved 20 April 2015,
from http://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/primary/reports/RecommendationsOfTheCommission.html