Galvanised Fire Escape Staircase — Eurocell Head Office, Alfreton
This external galvanised fire escape staircase was designed, manufactured and installed by Dio-Met Fabrications for Eurocell Group's head office in Alfreton, Derbyshire (DE55 2DT). The unit provides compliant secondary means of escape from a first-floor fire exit on the main warehouse elevation and is the first of three staircases contracted directly with Eurocell for the same site.
Project overview
- Client: Eurocell Group plc (direct contract)
- Location: Head Office, Alfreton, Derbyshire, DE55 2DT
- Sector: Industrial / commercial (manufacturer head office and distribution)
- Scope: Site survey, design, manufacture, delivery and installation
- Structure: External fire escape staircase with top landing, half landing
- Finish: Hot-dip galvanised steel throughout
- Treads and landings: Open mesh flooring (OMF), powder-coated high-visibility yellow
- Handrails: Galvanised tubular steel, twin-rail with knee rail, compliant guarding height
- Fixings: Resin-anchored baseplates to concrete slab; structural connection back to building
- Installation: Weekend install, out of operating hours — no disruption to Eurocell operations
- Units on order for site: 3 × staircases (this page documents unit 1, now installed)
Brief and site conditions
Eurocell approached Dio-Met directly to replace and upgrade external fire escape provision at the Alfreton head office. The brief called for three standalone galvanised staircases serving different fire exits on the building envelope, each with its own geometry governed by door threshold height, available ground footprint, and the position of existing parked vehicles, bin stores and plant. For unit 1 the escape route exits a first-floor personnel fire door onto a top landing, drops via a quarter-turn onto an intermediate platform, then runs as a straight flight to grade. Dio-Met surveyed the exit door level, slab condition, building cladding line and the adjacent parking bay before finalising setting-out.
Design and compliance approach
The staircase was designed to suit industrial escape use with a going and rise within the range accepted for means-of-escape stairs in a commercial building, twin handrails to both sides of each flight, and continuous guarding around all raised platforms. Treads and landings are open mesh flooring (OMF) — welded steel grating, galvanised and then powder-coated high-visibility yellow. Three reasons for this specification: the open mesh does not hold standing water (a recurring failure mode on sheet-steel external stairs), the serrated bar top gives a positive grip under boots in wet or icy conditions, and the powder-coat yellow delivers the visual contrast that a fire escape stair benefits from, especially in low light. The supporting steelwork sits on baseplates fixed into the existing concrete apron, with cross bracing concealed beneath the top landing to resist lateral and torsional loads.
Manufacture
All structural steelwork was fabricated in-house at our Sheffield works, then sent out for hot-dip galvanising to BS EN ISO 1461 before the OMF treads and landing panels were fitted. Galvanising was chosen over paint for whole-life cost: on an external industrial stair exposed to weather and road salt drift from the yard, a paint system needs recoating; galvanising does not. The OMF panels are supplied as pre-cut welded steel grating with bolted cleats onto the stringers, so any single tread can be replaced in future without hot work or disturbance to adjacent panels.
Installation — weekend work, no disruption
Installation was scheduled over a weekend, out of Eurocell's operating hours, so there was no disruption to head office traffic, deliveries or staff access during the working week. The frame was offloaded and pieced together on site before being positioned against the building, levelled on shim packs, and resin-anchored down. The top landing was then bolted to a structural connection at the fire door reveal. Final work included fitting the handrail returns, torque-checking all structural bolts, and snagging. The parking bay in front of the stair was handed back for Monday morning.
For occupied industrial sites — warehouses, distribution centres, manufacturing plants, head offices — we routinely programme weekend, evening or shutdown-window installs as part of the quote. This is usually the deciding factor on whether a project can run at all without disrupting the business.
Units 2 and 3
The two remaining staircases for the site follow the same engineering and finish specification and will be installed in sequence once their respective ground conditions are ready. Each has its own geometry to suit the specific fire exit it serves.
Frequently asked questions
Why galvanised steel rather than painted? Hot-dip galvanising gives the longest maintenance-free service life for an external industrial stair. A painted system will need recoating; a galvanised stair of this specification will typically give decades of service with no structural maintenance beyond occasional bolt checks.
Why yellow powder-coated OMF treads instead of steel checker plate? Open mesh flooring drains freely, does not ice up in the same way as solid steel, and the serrated bar edges give a much higher slip rating when wet. The powder-coat yellow is a bonded factory finish over galvanised grating, not a site-applied paint — it stays put under foot traffic. For a fire escape stair the high-visibility colour is also a functional safety benefit.
Does Dio-Met work directly with end-user industrial clients? Yes. On this project Dio-Met contracted directly with Eurocell — no main contractor or building intermediary. We handle the full package: survey, design, compliance-led fabrication drawings, manufacture, delivery and install.
Can you install outside operating hours? Yes. On this project the staircase was installed over a weekend so that head office traffic, deliveries and staff access were not affected during the working week. For occupied industrial sites we routinely programme weekend, evening or shutdown-window installs as part of the quote.
Can you match this staircase for our own site? Yes — send us rough dimensions, a couple of site photos and the storey height you need to serve, and we can come back with a budget figure before any site visit.
Explore more from Dio-Met
Planning a fire escape or industrial access staircase?
Dio-Met handles survey, design, manufacture and installation as a single package, direct with end users or through main contractors. Weekend and out-of-hours installation available for occupied sites across the UK. Send us a sketch, a photo or a set of rough dimensions and we'll come back with a budget figure before any site visit.
Check out our guide for building regulations in relation to steel staircases both commercial and residential
Call: 0114 243 9009 Email: sales@diometonline.co.uk
Dio-Met Fabrications Ltd — Arc Works, 150 Worksop Road, Sheffield S9 3TN
Tags: galvanised fire escape staircase, external steel staircase, industrial fire escape, open mesh flooring treads, OMF staircase treads, powder-coated stair treads, fire escape stairs, galvanised steel staircase, commercial fire escape, warehouse fire escape, external escape stair, Eurocell Alfreton
