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The Effectiveness of Evacuation Alarms in Multi-Hazard Environments

Pagnon Eriksson, Claude LU and Magnusson, Robin (2019) In TVBB
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to investigate the effectiveness of using specific alarms for each hazard
versus the effectiveness of using a single alarm for all hazards in multi-hazard facilities. The
research was conducted by disseminating online questionnaires containing audio files of different
alarms to occupants of multi-hazards facilities and conducting interviews with safety experts
working at multi-hazard facilities. Responses show variability concerning the perceived urgency
of an alarm and what respondents associate with that alarm. Each of the alarms were perceived as
both ‘not urgent’ and ‘very urgent’ at least once by different respondents, however a trend was
observed, suggesting that there might be... (More)
The aim of this thesis is to investigate the effectiveness of using specific alarms for each hazard
versus the effectiveness of using a single alarm for all hazards in multi-hazard facilities. The
research was conducted by disseminating online questionnaires containing audio files of different
alarms to occupants of multi-hazards facilities and conducting interviews with safety experts
working at multi-hazard facilities. Responses show variability concerning the perceived urgency
of an alarm and what respondents associate with that alarm. Each of the alarms were perceived as
both ‘not urgent’ and ‘very urgent’ at least once by different respondents, however a trend was
observed, suggesting that there might be other factors affecting the perceived urgency than those
identified in the literature, for example the pulse pattern. As for the meaning, it could range from
a hazard (such as radiation) to a computer error or a reversing truck for the same alarm. The results
also indicated that alarms that were perceived as more urgent were also more often associated to a
hazard as opposed to alarms that were perceived as less urgent that were more often considered as
less hazardous. Responses indicated that people having experienced a real emergency situation
preferred the use of multiple alarms more than the people with no experience. Based on the
responses, it is recommended that the number of alarms used at a multi-hazard facility should
depend on the number of evacuation responses rather than on the number of hazards. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
supervisor
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Evacuation, evacuation alarms, auditory alarms, alarm perception, perceived urgency, multi-hazard
in
TVBB
issue
5588
pages
51 pages
publisher
Division of Fire Safety Engineering
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
620f7cb8-fde7-4728-ac99-7aa699372f3c
alternative location
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8982126
date added to LUP
2020-11-27 09:59:08
date last changed
2020-12-11 10:12:35
@misc{620f7cb8-fde7-4728-ac99-7aa699372f3c,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this thesis is to investigate the effectiveness of using specific alarms for each hazard<br/>versus the effectiveness of using a single alarm for all hazards in multi-hazard facilities. The<br/>research was conducted by disseminating online questionnaires containing audio files of different<br/>alarms to occupants of multi-hazards facilities and conducting interviews with safety experts<br/>working at multi-hazard facilities. Responses show variability concerning the perceived urgency<br/>of an alarm and what respondents associate with that alarm. Each of the alarms were perceived as<br/>both ‘not urgent’ and ‘very urgent’ at least once by different respondents, however a trend was<br/>observed, suggesting that there might be other factors affecting the perceived urgency than those<br/>identified in the literature, for example the pulse pattern. As for the meaning, it could range from<br/>a hazard (such as radiation) to a computer error or a reversing truck for the same alarm. The results<br/>also indicated that alarms that were perceived as more urgent were also more often associated to a<br/>hazard as opposed to alarms that were perceived as less urgent that were more often considered as<br/>less hazardous. Responses indicated that people having experienced a real emergency situation<br/>preferred the use of multiple alarms more than the people with no experience. Based on the<br/>responses, it is recommended that the number of alarms used at a multi-hazard facility should<br/>depend on the number of evacuation responses rather than on the number of hazards.}},
  author       = {{Pagnon Eriksson, Claude and Magnusson, Robin}},
  keywords     = {{Evacuation; evacuation alarms; auditory alarms; alarm perception; perceived urgency; multi-hazard}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5588}},
  publisher    = {{Division of Fire Safety Engineering}},
  series       = {{TVBB}},
  title        = {{The Effectiveness of Evacuation Alarms in Multi-Hazard Environments}},
  url          = {{http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8982126}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}