Some of the guiding principles for emergency exits are,
- doors should open outward
- there should be one emergency exit for every 75 ft distance
- emergency lighting along the corridor to maintain minimum illumination in case of failure of regular power supply
- self glowing display signs (EXIT, arrow marking, etc)
- availability of keys near the doors marked emergency exit, with hammer to break the box containing keys
- not blocking the emergency exits
- not having stairs in front of emergency exit doors
At some places, it looks funny to see signs of EXIT and directional arrows exactly on the doors instead of direction marks along the wall from inner rooms to outdoors.