A Voice Evacuation System for a High Rise Building - Essay Example

Human Factors Design Lecturer This project is aimed at coming up with signs and a voice evacuation system for a high rise building. Such a system will help people to know where to head to so as to either use the stairs downstairs out of the building, or head for the escalator to get out. The other option to get out of the building should be to head for the sky bridge to leave a burning building. Effectiveness of these signage and voice messages should be able to help avoid casualties and ensure a systematic exit from the building in the event of fire. Therefore, it is important that such signs reinforce each other and be in a way that any person, regardless of language and nationality can easily understand. Voice messages can be customized so as to take care of the heterogeneity of the public likely to be occupying a given building at the time of emergency. Introduction This project aims at developing important voice messages together with signs that will help in evacuating a high rise building in the event of a fire emergency. The idea is to have an evacuation system that can lead to a systematic evacuation of a building and avoid or minimize fatalities. Therefore, it is important that both messages and signs be consistent so as to avoid chaos in the evacuation process. Voice Messages Voice evacuation is one of the life safety measures that are considered to be more effective (Fike, 2014). It is increasingly being preferred because it enables more people to be reached easily. This way, voice messages can be seen to be faster at reaching the targeted people (in this case occupants in a building to be evacuated due to emergency). It has to be appreciated that in the event of a fire emergency, getting the message out to the people who may not be aware of what is going on in another part of the building becomes a priority so as to avoid many people being trapped inside the building (Casey, 2008). Another reason for the preference of this method is the fact t that it is effective in giving out messages in a clear and concise way (Fike, 2014) to the people about the emergency and therefore helps them plan for their exit. For instance, individuals are likely to receive messages detailing the emergency, proximity of their location to the emergency situation and the emergency strategy such as their options (Fike, 2014). It should be remembered that if the evacuation plan is chaotic, more causalities may be incurred as people who could be saved head to the wrong direction or take dangerous steps leading to either being trapped or sustaining injuries which may prove to be fatal. Thus if instructions are delivered in a way that individuals can understand, then it is possible that evacuation will be systematic and helps save lives (Casey, 2008). Various issues have to be considered when planning to have voice evacuation messaging in times of fire emergency. First is intelligibility which is the ability of the voice being emitted by the system to be understood by human listeners (Casey, 2008). This should not be confused with audibility which is the ability of the sound emitted being perceptible or heard by the human ear (Casey, 2008, Schifiliti, 2010).Thus intelligibility and audibility of the voice being targeted at the people is of utmost importance. This is an important factor given that research has shown that people with hearing disability such as the aged are more at risk whenever this method is used (Casey, 2008). The problem is that intelligibility is affected by myriad other factors such as noise in the building which may obscure the transmission (Casey, 2008). Decay refers to a situation where transmitted message is compromised due to other intervening factors like reverberations or reflections. This also affects intelligibility even if the message was loud enough. The choice of a communication system that addresses these issues is thus important. To this end, there are a number of issues to be addressed before settling on a particular system. Schifiliti (2010) observes that one step is to ensure that the sounds from different microphones should reach the ear at the same time. Differences in timing of sounds from the myriad microphones can lead to corruption of the message leading to loss of particular or the entire message. The result would be that the target people may not receive intended message. Another issue to consider concerns installing the speakers. Spacing of the speakers is important here; too many speakers in a small space may end up having variations and affecting intelligibility. Schifiliti (2010) notes that whichever the case, the listener should not get more than 6 dB variations as they move within the space say a room. On the other hand, the sound level is also key. High levels of sound may make the message louder and the result is that the message may become irritating to the ear and therefore affects intelligibility. Lastly is the issue of the quality of prerecorded message which is to be played out of the speakers. The message should be controlled in a good way so that the meaning is not lost. As a result Schifiliti (2010) is of the opinion that proper use of voice inflections, pauses and enunciation is a must if the message is not to be lost. This may calls for the engagement of a professional an announcer to talk out of the loudspeakers. However, this is not only the purview of the speaker. The unit memory chip size and specifications also comes to affect the voice quality. Even though the requirements of such recording are not to the levels required for music recording, an extra effort should be done when the building has a high noise levels or acoustics that are challenging. In this instance Schifiliti (2010) observes that a high quality recording will be needed so as to ensure the listener does not struggle in making out what the message is all about. Signs The use of signs is one of the old ways of warning or directing individuals in a given place of what is expected of them. Signs can also be effective in emergency situations because they serve to direct individuals of the direction of the exit and where to head in the event of an emergency. It therefore calls on whoever designs the signs to ensure that such signs can easily be understood. However, visibility is also a key issue with regards to these signs. It is important to remember that most people do not have much time to look at and try to interpret the signage they come across (Alison n.d., Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2014). Thus, such signage should be located strategically with the target people in mind. This means that such signs should be located where they can easily be seen. Location is important so as to ensure that they are not missed. Given that the intention is to pass on a message, then the sign should be easy to see so that this message is passed on to the intended audience. Once the sign has been seen, the next issue is to have it read quickly. As noted before, people have no time to waste trying to decipher what the message is all about (Alison, n.d., Orange County Authority, 2014). It is thus the duty of whoever is making the signs to make the simple to understand. The public should be able to read them quickly. Besides, use of pictographs should be used o make the message understandable and avoid excessive use of words which may make the message even more difficult as it will require more time for the user to need. On the other hand, the information should contain the message the reader needs. This is what will make them spend a little of their time on the sign. One of the issues to have in mind so as to make the sign effective is to ensure that even if the sign is placed in a cluttered background, it will be able to be seen (Alison n.d, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2014). It is thus necessary that the sign should be able to ‘stand out’. This can be achieved by a number of ways. The easiest way is to ensure that the sign contrast against the background and its surrounding. This can be done by using colour that contrast the background and the surrounding. For instance, we can use white or warm colours such as pink in a black or dark background. Alternatively, creatively infusing patterns can ensure that the sign stands out and can easily be seen by the public (Stranks, 2007). Another issue to consider is the need to maximize legibility of the sign. As noted earlier, this can be achieved by ensuring that the sign contrasts against its background. Legibility can also be enhanced by the appropriate use of optimum letters and line spacing (Alison n.d.). Legibility is one principle of sign design because it ensures that individuals can easily read the sign and get the message. It is also important to emphasize that without legibility, the message may be lost as few will make an attempt to read the sign while many may not even bother. Thus, creative use of space should be emphasized because the text has fit within the space. Amount of information contained in the sign should also be limited to ensure that clutter in the sign is avoided. Having too much information means that the text will have to be squeezed so as to ensure that the entire text fits within the sign. This has a number of disadvantages. To begin with, the text might be too small such that legibility is compromised. It will require the public to move close to the sign in order to read. A good sign is one that can be read from a far with ease. This is an extra burden to the targeted public and few will bother, if at all, to move closer to the sign and read it. Wilson et al. (2012) observes that the majority may even pass without giving it a second thought while others may just fail to see it. However, in the effort to limit amount of information contained in the sign, we should ensure that the message is not lost. At the end of the day, it is the message that we seek to get it out to the public. When the message is lost, it means that the plot is also lost. Objectives of the sign will not be achieved. One way of ensuring that we keep the information to the minimum is the use of Pictographs. This is the use of pictures and sketches to communicate a message. Alison (n.d.) observes that pictographs have been proved to be effective in enhancing comprehension as they can easily be understood by majority of the users of the signs (Wilson et. al., 2012, Stranks, 2007). This is because the public only needs to see the picture with a caption and gets the message. No much reading is involved in getting the message being communicated. For instance in this project, the caption can be, ‘In Case of Fire’ and the picture should show a man running towards a certain direction; say the direction of the escalator. This will communicate to whoever sees this picture that there is an escalator within the building in the direction being shown. However, care must be taken to ensure that the direction shown in the picture is actually where the said facility is. Objectivity in the sign is thus important to ensure that people are not directed to the wrong direction which may defeat the objective of the evacuation. All in all, the general consensus is that signs are an important aspect of helping people finds egress points in the building. They should thus be designed with the sole intention of reducing the complexity or difficulty in getting the message and reducing errors made by the public who are the main targets of such signs. Given that in an emergency situation such as fire emergency people will be terrified and with little time in their hands to spare reading signs, the signs should be prominent and legible. The idea is to attract the attention of the public and create interest in the sign so that they can read and get the message. Project The core of this project is to design three main signs directing the public towards areas they may ext the building. The first sign will aim at directing those who are not close to the elevator towards the elevator. This sign should have a number of characteristics. The sign should have words with ‘Fire’ in it. For instance ‘In case of Fire’. This way, the public know what emergency is being talked about. Then a picture can be used showing a man running towards the direction of the elevator. Another alternative may have the same words, but with and arrow pointing towards the direction of an elevator. The second sign should be in the stairs to let people know that they can use the sky bridge. This sign should also be prominently displayed so as to be easily seen. On the other hand, word ‘fire’ may be used or a phrase ‘In case of Fire’ can be seen with an arrow showing the direction of the shy bridge (upwards the stairs). Alternatively, instead of the arrow, a pictograph of a man running upwards the stairs towards the sky bridge may be used. Another option will be to use the pictograph of a skybridge instead. This, with an arrow showing the direction of the skybridge which is up the stairs may be one or two floors will be appropriate. The third sign should be the one to guide the public to descend down the elevator to the ground floor to escape in the event of a fire. These signs should be placed on the elevator lobby as this will target the people around that area. The sign may include the caption ‘fire exit’ with the pictograph of stairs descending downwards. This sign should be place at the appropriate floors which are the closest the ground floor. In any case, those closest the skybridge can as well use it instead of descending all the way to the ground floor which will waste time and pose them to serious danger should the fire spread. It has to be noted that the colour red to denote fire may be used in all signs. This colour of danger or fire may serve to warn of the danger. It is important theta colours be used in signs to capture the mood of what is being talked about. The colour may be used in a number of ways such as to mark out the borders of the sign, in the writing of the caption to the signs or within the sign. This captures the danger inherent within the fire being talked about. An alternative would be to use a cool colour to denote the gloom around the danger. Apart from the man running away from the fire downstairs, we could as well use the pictograph of fire itself. This can serve the same purpose. Fire should be in colour red to capture the danger and put the sign in line with the theme of the warning or information being given out about the fire. This can be sued in all signs posted around the building. For consistency so as to avoid confusion, the use of one pictograph throughout all signs is necessary (Wilson et. al., 2012). For instance, if a pictograph of a man running away is used, the same should apply with the direction of arrows changing as appropriate. On the other hand, if we use the pictograph of fire, the same should be used throughout. This way, once a pictograph is seen, somebody knows what is being talked about and will just have to look for the direction of the arrow to know where to head. In any case, measures noted about design of a good sign will have to be adhered to. Effort will be put in place to ensure that the signs are prominent and can thus be easily seen. Furthermore, they should be big enough so that they can be seen from a distance. Individuals do not need to move close so as to see what the sign is talking about. Small sign may pose the challenge of visibility and readability. This means that they may not be clearly seen and even those who get to see the signs would have to move close. References Alison, A. (nd). Sign Design to Meet Customer Needs and Preferences. Retrieved 8th November, 2014 from http://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/thc-tpc/pdf/TIF-IIT/SignDesign.pdf Casey C.G. (2008).Intelligibility of Fire Alarm and Emergency Communication Systems. Fire Protection Research Foundation Fike. (2014). About Us. Retrieved 8th November, 2014 from http://www.fike.com/products/integrated-voice-evacuation-messaging-system/ Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.(2014). Guidelines for Preparing and Arranging Posters. Retrieved 8th November, 2014 from http://www.hfes.org/Web/HFESMeetings/hcsposterguidelines.html Orange County Authority (2014). Guideline for Emergency Evacuation and Stairwell Signage. Planning and Development Services Section Schifiliti R.P. (2010). 10 Key Issues Affecting Intelligibility of Voice Communications. Journal of the National Fire Protection Association. Stranks J. (2007). Human Factors and Behavioural Safety. New York, Routledge Wilson R.J., Mills A., Clarke, T., Rajan, J. and Dadashi, N. (2012). Rail Human Factors around the World. London, CRC Press. Read More