The LWF Blog

Fire Safety for Facilities Management Personnel – Voice Alarm Systems – Part 211

July 24, 2023 10:58 am

Lawrence Webster Forrest (LWF) is a specialist fire engineering and fire risk management consultancy whose aim is to give information on best practice in fire safety for facilities management personnel through this blog series. In part 210, LWF discussed the first main reason in take-up of voice alarm systems. In part 211, we talk about the second reason there has been an increase in the use of voice alarm systems in recent years.

As indicated in part 210 of this blog series, the uptake in the use of phased evacuation in tall buildings has led to an increase in the use of voice alarm systems in recent years. The reasoning behind the use of voice alarm system is to give precise instructions to building occupants, e.g. which floors should evacuate and which should remain in place.

The second reason for the increase in the use of voice alarm systems is due to human behaviour. In the 1980s, various research projects were undertaken into human behaviour in fire situations and how they responded to the fire alarms.

It was found, overall, that what had previously been ascribed to a feeling of panic in a fire situation, wasn’t necessarily coming from a place of fear. The research showed that people react inappropriately to fire alarm signals for various reasons.

• If they aren’t sure if it’s a fire alarm or some other alarm
• They may disbelieve the warning signal, believing it to be a test or false alarm
• They may feel they have time to finish what they were doing
• They may feel they need to do something important before evacuating
• They might see other people not moving to an exit and copy (herd mentality)

As a result, the response time to a conventional fire alarm signal can be dangerously in excess of the maximum time allowed.

The use of a voice alarm system to give information and instruction means that the building occupants are not confused about what they should do or when, and the use of such systems coupled with intermittent fire alarm sounders produces much faster reaction and ultimate evacuation times.

The use of voice alarm systems in large and complex buildings and in those buildings where the public assemble in large numbers has become routine.

It is also recognised practise to use a voice alarm system rather than bells or sounders in the following types of building:

• Buildings with phased evacuation
• Major air and rail terminals
• Large public assembly buildings comprising auditoriums, e.g. cinemas and theatres
• Shopping centres

In part 212 of this series, LWF will look at the design code of practice for voice alarm systems. In the meantime, if you have any queries about your own facilities or wish to discuss this blog series, please contact LWF on freephone 0800 410 1130.

 

Lawrence Webster Forrest is a fire engineering consultancy based in Surrey with over 35 years’ experience, which provides a wide range of consultancy services to professionals involved in the design, development and construction and operation of buildings.

 

While care has been taken to ensure that information contained in LWF’s publications is true and correct at the time of publication, changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of this information.