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#153490 10/17/03 11:03 PM
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,716
R
Member
Help me out here, we are discussing a strobe that will reflect and bounce from many areas virtually being impossible to ignore or miss.

Now, we have maximum height requirements for an item that doesn't need to be directly looked at. (I always wondered why the word Fire was on the strobe, who could read it in an event)

Now I ask, we have an individual in a wheel chair that has limited mobility in their neck, do they need to see a flashing strobe or an EXIT SIGN?

Many times the exit signs (lights) are on the ceilings much higher than the strobes. (confused)

Roger

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#153491 10/18/03 10:17 AM
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,374
R
Ryan_J Offline OP
Moderator
Roger, I wish I had a good answer for that :-p The only thing that I can think of is that accessibility requirements are for people with all sorts of disibilities, not just people in wheel chairs, but also people with hearing or sight impairments. The only thing that I can think of is that if someone were near blind they would need to see where the strange bouncing light was coming from, and this might not be an easy thing to do if the elevation were higher.

Again, I have no way to back that up, but it's the only thing I can think of.....?


Ryan Jackson,
Salt Lake City
#153492 10/18/03 11:26 AM
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,716
R
Member
OK, I'll buy that. So now every one reguardless of impairment knows there is a fire, how do we insure they can see the "exit signs" ?

I have heard (this is only hearsay on my part) of a building that had the exit signs mounted at door hardware level on the active side of the doors.

Roger

#153493 10/18/03 11:59 AM
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,374
R
Ryan_J Offline OP
Moderator
One of the ways that this is established is by placing exit signs at the floor level. Ever notice that in hotel/motel corridors there are signs at the ceiling and floor? The intent is that the corridor may be filled with smoke, requiring people to crawl to the exit.

My opinion is that this is kind of silly. If there is that much smoke in the building, you had beter have all of the occupants out already.

The building code has a concept called "travel distance" and "common path of egress travel". Basically, (depending on what kind of building), you are only allowed to travel 75 feet before you have the option to exit in more than one direction. Travel distance states that you can only go 300' (depending on the type of building) before arriving at an exit, such as a protected stair enclosure. Doing the math, you are expected to have all of your occupants to the exit in under 2 minutes! This includes the reaction time, the panic stage and the travel time. Pretty restrictive requirements when you think about it.


Ryan Jackson,
Salt Lake City
#153494 10/18/03 12:14 PM
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,374
R
Ryan_J Offline OP
Moderator
Sorry Roger I got off the topic there. In regards to exit lights, one of the things that was conirmed in the night club fire in Rhode Island was the belief that people exit in the same door that they enter. You could have had 5 exits from that club and there still would have been a panic to escape out of the front of the building. In many types of buildings, the "main entrance" is required to be signifigantly larger than the other doors. With that being said, perhaps the idea is that, if you can't see an exit sign, hopefully you can remember how you got to where you are and get back out.


Ryan Jackson,
Salt Lake City
#153495 10/18/03 02:33 PM
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 582
R
Ron Offline
Member
The height requirement is to afford a minimum amount of light where the person is. If it is on a 50' ceiling, the light will not effectively make it to the floor for anyone to have it catch their eye.


Ron
#153496 10/18/03 07:18 PM
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 60
G
Member
The way I remember the height of FA pull boxes and horn/strobes is to always use the measurement to the top of the outlet box because in my area the requirement is 84" to the top for horn strobes and 48 inches to the top for pull boxes. I used to always have trouble remembering that until I realized that the height number is each is the same number backwards or forwards.

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