LOL! Nothing like the threat of a lawsuit to get people's attention.

I really am sympathetic to the security angle. I would think that with some planning and picking the right hardware, a happy medium could be reached between security and safety. As I said, maybe there are features to your (to Tom L's) setup that you're not aware of so it's best to ask someone who should know.

It just makes me unsettled to think that your only escape from your entire floor is through these locked doors, and the locks have failed in the past such that you feel the need keep prying tools at your desk "just in case". It just seems like a bad situation waiting to happen.