NFPA Journal - Summer 2023 - 52

LIFE SAFETY
NEW DIRECTIONS
A
BY VICTORIA HUTCHISON
few years ago, I made my first
trip to an IKEA store. I quickly
figured out that the store wasn't
designed with the American getin-and-get-out
retail model in
mind. IKEA hit me with sensory
overload and took me on a journey;
I found myself following the
crowds through the maze-like
Dynamic exit
signage can be
connected to a
building's safety
systems and
relay appropriate
directions to
occupants based
on the nature and
location of the
threat. Signs can
accurately indicate
a desired action,
whether it's avoiding
or following a
particular path.
paths, curious what was around the next corner,
losing track of time and the short checklist of items
I went in for. What I thought would be a quick trip
turned out to be a four-hour excursion.
The longer I was in the store, the more disoriented
I became in relation to where I had entered. Even as
I wandered in a retail haze, my fire protection engineer
mind kept asking, " How am I going to get out
of here? " I found myself seeking out the exits in every
new section I entered. Although not always blatantly
obvious, the travel distances to exits, number of exits,
presence of fire doors, and other fundamental fire
safety elements appeared to be in place, and code
compliant. Even so, I was unsettled by the uncertainty
of my direct egress route in the event of a fire.
Historically, static exit sign messaging has served
the public well for fire emergencies and for buildings
with simple egress layouts. But as complex egress
layouts become more common in modern buildings-as
in the IKEA I visited-it can be expected
that occupants will face greater fire evacuation risks
than ever before. That's why many safety experts are
questioning whether the standard static exit signage
is enough, considering the growing complexity of
building layouts as well as the emergence of other
public hazards, such as active shooter events, that
require rapid movement of people to locations other
than the main entrance.
The need for exit signage that captures people's
attention and redirects them in an evolving
emergency-not only identifying an exit route
but identifying and following the optimal egress
52 | NFPA JOURNAL * SUMMER 2023
Larger and more complex buildings can result in more complicated
means of egress in an emergency. To address the problem, efforts
are underway to create new forms of dynamic exit signage-
technology that, while challenging to develop, holds great promise
for life safety practitioners of the future.
IMAGES COURTESY OF EVACLITE LTD

NFPA Journal - Summer 2023

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