Human Behavior Aspects of Staging Areas for Fire Safety in GSA Buildings. Final Report.
Human Behavior Aspects of Staging Areas for Fire Safety
in GSA Buildings. Final Report.
(471 K)
Levin, B. M.; Groner, N. E.
NIST GCR 92-606; 58 p. April 1992.
Sponsor:
National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD
General Services Administration, Washington, DC
Available from:
National Technical Information Service
Order number: PB92-187129
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.
