- Author
-
Proulx, G.
|
Laroche, C.
|
Jaspers-Fayer, F.
|
Lavallee, R.
- Title
- Fire Alarm Signal Recognition.
- Coporate
- National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
- Report
-
Internal Report 828; IRC-IR-828
June 2001
32 p.
- Distribution
- For more information contact: National Research Council of Canada, Institute for Research in Construction, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0R6, Telephone (613) 993-2607, Fax: (613) 952-7673, Email: [email protected], Website: http://www.nrc.ca/irc/ircpubs
- Keywords
-
fire alarm systems
|
signals
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signal detection
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sound (noise)
|
occupants
- Identifiers
- spectrum analysis of the signals testes; signal recollection; signal identification; signal perceived urgency; signal identification and perceived urgency
- Abstract
- The 1995 National Building Code of Canada requires that fire alarm signals sound the Temporal-Three (T-3) pattern, as defined by the ISO 8201 "Acoustics--Audible Emergency Evacuation Signal". This sound pattern has also been required by NFPA 72 since July 1996. It is intended that the T-3 pattern will become the standardized alarm signal heard arourd the world that will unequivocally mean "evacuate the building immediately". Although new and refurbished buildings have, for the past 5 years, been equipped with this new signal, no formal public education has taken place to inform building users about the meaning and response expected from them when it sounds. In North America, discussions are ongoing regarding the necessity to develop a public education campaign on the subject of this new evacuation signal, and whether an automatic recorded message should follow the signal to prompt the public to evacuate. As a first step, we need to ascertain if the public already recognizes this sound as an evacuation signal. The objectives of this project were to assess the public's recollection, identification and perceived urgency of the T-3. Data,was collected through a field study. Six alarm signals were recorded on a CD: the T-3, a Car Horn, a Reverse or backup alarm, a fire alarm Bell, the Slow Whoop alarm, and an industrial warning Buzzer. The presentation orders of the signals were different on each of the three CDs used to collect data. Members of the public were approached in buildings such as shopping centers, office buildings, libraries and airports; they were then asked to listen through headphones to the different sounds. After each signal, the interviewer asked three questions: "Have you heard this sound before?", "What do you think this sound means?" and finally, "How urgent do you feel this sound is on a scale from 1 to 10? 1 means the sound is not urgent at all and 10 means it is extremely urgent." The first question tested recollection of the signal, the second tested the ability of the participant to correctly identify the signal, and the last question rated the perceived urgency of the signal. It was heavily emphasized to participants that the sounds heard on the CD were from in and around large buildings, such as the one where they were in at the time of the interview.