000			02030nab a2200193 4500
005			20260520000951.0
008			260224s2010 xxu
245	0	0	_aInteractions between human behaviour and technology _bImplications for fire safety science
260			_a _b _coct. 2010
270			_a12/10/2010 ; 12/10/2010
300			_a20 p. ; 769-788
520			_aTranscripción del resumen del autor. Here we present a number of studies showing how human behaviour may influence the effectiveness of fire safety equipment. The paper initially focuses on smoke alarms and first reviews studies on the waking effectiveness of smoke alarms, including the increased waking effectiveness of a low frequency 520 Hz square wave. Section 2.2 presents research on the impact of changes in the open or shut status of doors and windows on alarm performance. When all doors were closed, the average alarm volume in other rooms fell to a mere 36 dBA. Time for alarm activation by smoke was very strongly influenced by shutting interconnecting doors. The analysis in Sect. 2.3, using detailed coroner’s files, suggests that for many fire fatalities a smoke alarm is likely to have been irrelevant to whether or not a person died in the fire. Part 3 presents research examining the use of fire extinguishers and fire blankets by older adults. Blanket use was more successful than the fire extinguisher, with 22% of participants unable to remove the fire extinguisher safety tag. We conclude that any new fire safety technologies or developments need to explicitly take into account human factors in their design. Further, consideration must be made about whether a new product is likely to be located, installed, available, maintained and/or appropriately used by the people who are most at risk. The paper closes with a discussion of some preventative strategies.
581			_a4
773	0		_tFire Technology _g46
942			_cARTICULO
100	1		_aBruck, D. _947056
100	1		_aThomas, I. _947057
999			_c177356 _d177356