Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

Seventy-nine adult subjects had to find their way out of an experimental facility that provided the following information principles: visual discontinuous markings (e.g. signs), visual continuous markings, tactile continuous markings and combination of these principles. The dependent variables were; evacuation time, outcome of evacuation, memory of the escape route geometry, estimated evacuation time and subject's opinion. During evacuation trials the visibility distance was approximately 2.5 m. Analysis of the results indicate that continuous markings are superior to traditional exit signs. On the basis of these and other findings it is recommended that continuous tactile systems are used when expected optical density (OD) during evacuation exceeds 1.5. Visual continuous markings are recommended when 1.5 > OD > 0.1. Traditional exit signs are only recommended when expected OD < 0.1.