- Author
- Levin, B. M. | Groner, N. E.
- Title
- Human Behavior Aspects of Staging Areas for Fire Safety in GSA Buildings. Final Report.
- Coporate
- George Mason Univ., Fairfax, VA
- Sponsor
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD General Services Administration, Washington, DC
- Report
- NIST GCR 92-606, April 1992, 58 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Contract
- NIST-CONTRACT-50SBNB1C6527
- Keywords
- human behavior | fire safety | fire protection | handicapped | high rise buildings | office buildings | staging areas | egress | evacuation | occupants
- Abstract
- One approach for assuring the safety of disabled occupants of office buildings, in a fire emergency, is to provide a staging area or an area of refuge where the disabled occupants can wait safely until either they can be assisted out of the building or the fire is extinguished. GSA has retrofitted six office buildings with staging areas to upgrade the fire safety for disabled occupants. This is a report of a project to study the six installations to determine the feasibility of staging areas from a human behavior perspective and to make recommendations for upgrading current and future installations. The study showed that government employees will accept and use staging areas. The study revealed: the need to pay attention to details in designing the communciations system; the need for training the emergency team and informing the occupants; and the need for special procedures for maintenance.