Reports within the safety research area

The acoustics of many indoor areas are today unsatisfactory, which makes it difficult to understand spoken messages as well as messages from voice alarm systems. This can result in safety problems, but also disturb the experience of the event for the visitor, since the acoustics are essential for environmental qualities regarding comfort.

The overall project aim is to increase the safety and acoustic comfort in large indoor arenas. The following goals are attained in the project:

• emphasizing problems within prescribed practice and legal framework for the design of indoor areanas intending to propose cost-effective solutions for further good acoustics and audibility;

• investigating and straightening prescribed legal framework considering voice alarm systems intending to propose revision with particular interest in the question of responsibility;

• presenting a model for quality assurance of voice alarm systems intending to prevent inaccurate and inadequate inspection

Voice alarm systems have been studied in three Swedish indoor arenas by means of technical measurements and a completing poll. The arenas included in the project are mainly used for ice hockey but also for music and a variety of other events. The overall conclusion of the evaluated data is that the speech intelligibility is inadequate.

Results of the project are:

• recommendations for acoustic design of indoor arenas

• clarification of the responsibilities and emphasizing the need for governing recommendations

• a proposal for an assembled methologoy concerning attestation of speech intelligibility in voice alarm systems

The target group of the research project is on one hand contractors, designers and purchasers who are active witin the field and on the other hand the authorities who manage and regulate demands, laws, standards, recommendations and responsibilities.

08-225 Akustik och säkerhet i inomhusarenor

Numerous people die every year from toxic smoke emitted in fires. Carbon monoxide is thought to be the most important individual factor, the contribution of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) probably being severly underestimated. HCN is emitted from many modern materials when they catch fire, including furniture polstered with polyurethane foam. Cyanide poisoning may alise arise from terrorist attacks and in industrial handling of cyanides. Cyanide poisoning is life threatening and antidote treatment has to be initiated rapidly. At present, however, there is no way of rapid diagnosis of cyanide poisining.

The long-term goal of this project, is to develop a rapid method for diagnosis of cyanide poisoning by breath analysis. The project is divided in five steps:

1. Which HCN levels will appear in breath due to washout from the airways, the HCN emanating from high but short and innoxious peaks of HCN in the ambient air?

2. What are the background levels of HCN in breath from subjects not exposed to cyanide?

3. Will HCN in breath increase significantly following systematic intoxication?

4. Development of a fast, simple and reliable direct-reading detector for HCN in breath.

5. The relation between HCN in breath and in blood.

06-071 Cyanidförgiftning