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Emergency Warning Systems

For many of us, the first time we learn about an emergency, is when we hear the telltale signs of an emergency warning system in operation.

CEO, Firewize
11 Feb, 2020

For many of us, the first time we learn about an emergency, is when we hear the telltale signs of an emergency warning system in operation.
 
An emergency warning system is a life safety system installed to safeguard occupants from illness or injury by warning them of a fire or emergency and to safeguard occupants during the orderly evacuation of a building in an emergency. They assist in these two functions by;

  • providing mass notification of an emergency; and
  • providing a method to communicate with and direct building occupants in the event of an emergency.

The term emergency warning systems is used in this article as a generic term used to describe a three types of systems described in the Building Code of Australia (BCA) as follows;

Emergency warning systems alert occupants in an emergency by broadcasting a warning message or tones over a network of monitored loudspeakers. Speakers are distributed throughout a building to ensure;

  • warning messages and tones satisfy a specific sound pressure level (volume) and are distinctly audible throughout all required areas of the building; and
  • warning messages intelligible (clearly understood) by the occupants.

Building Occupant Warning System

Vigilant TGen 2 Occupant Warning System

A building occupant warning system (also known as an occupant warning system) is a type of emergency warning system that is designed and installed in accordance with Clause 6  of Specification E2.2a of the BCA and Clause 3.22 of Australian Standard AS1670.1.

A building occupant warning system can be one of the following;

  • A sound system for emergency purposes designed and installed in accordance with Australian Standard AS1670.4; or
  • Electronic sounders or and amplified sound systems producing an evacuation signal.

These systems may be supplemented by additional visual or tactile signals to augment the emergency evacuation signal.

Sound Systems and Intercom Systems for Emergency Purposes

QE90 Emergency Warning System EWIS

A sound system and intercom system for emergency purposes in different to a building occupant warning system. These systems are typically installed where the building satisfies one of the following;

  • in a building with an effective height of more than 25m; or
  • in a Class 3 buildings having a rise in storeys or more than 2 and used as a residential part of a school, or accommodation for the aged, children or people with disabilities; or
  • in a Class 3 building used as a residential aged care building; or
  • in a Class 9a building having a floor area of more than 1000m2 or a rise in storeys of more than 2; or
  • in a  Class 9b building used as a school and having a rise in storeys of more than 3, or used as a theatre, public hall or the like having a floor area of more than 1000m2 or a rise in storeys of more than 2.

Historically these systems were also described as an emergency warning & intercommunication system (EWIS).  This term and the relevant Australian Standard AS2220 have however been deprecated in favour of a “sound system and intercom system for emergency purposes”.

A sound system and intercom system for emergency purposes must be designed in Accordance with the requirements of Australian Standard AS1670.4 and AS2220

Emergency Warning System Basic Schematic

The control and indicating equipment that forms the ‘brains’ of an emergency warning system generally comprises the following components;

  1. Cabinet
  2. Primary Power Supply Unit & Battery Charger
  3. Secondary Power (Batteries)
  4. Control Electronics
  5. Illuminated Indicators
  6. Input Interface & Control
  7. Input Termination & Monitoring
  8. Output Termination & Monitoring
  9. Evacuation Zone Amplifiers

Each manufacturer of sound and intercom system for emergency purposes differentiates themselves from other manufactures by the features and layout of the user interface.  The following illustration shows a typical interface with two distinct sets of controls;

  • Sound System controls on the left; and
  • Intercom System controls in the right.
Vigilant QE90 Emergency Warning & Intercommunication System Display

The horizontal rows in this configuration illustrate an evacuation zone.

According to Australian Standard AS1851.4-2004, an evacuation zone is a subdivision of the premises that can be evacuated separately from any other subdivision.

This separation is achieved by providing one unique amplifier and speaker circuit for each evacuation zone.  An amplifier for an evacuation zone is rated to provide a defined amount of power, measured in watts (w) to the speaker circuit.

Loudspeakers can be purchased with a two or three power settings, also measured in watts.  The greater the number of speakers, the greater the power requirements (demand) on the amplifier.
 

Example:

An amplifier is rated at 10w there are 20 speakers fitted, each speaker is rated at 0.33w each.  The combined speaker load is 20 speakers x 0.33w equals 6.6w load.  This is within the available capacity of the 10w amplifier.

Typically loudspeakers are permanently fixed into position and distributed throughout the evacuation zone within a building typically at ceiling height in quantity and distribution to satisfy two criteria;

  1. a warning signal sound pressure level exceeding 10dB above ambient sound pressure level and not less than 65dB and not more than 105dB; and
  2. at all places within the evacuation zone where the ambient noise figures are less than 85dB the speech intelligibility shall be equal to or greater than 0.5 STI (speech transmission index)

At this point a little science is required to explain the terms used such as sound, sound pressure, sound pressure level, noise and intelligibility.

  1. Sound is the pressure variation caused by a sound wave.
  2. The magnitude of the variations of the air pressure from the static or normal air pressure is a measure of the sound pressure level, measured in decibels (dB). 
  3. The number of cyclic pressure variations per second is the frequency of sound, measured in hertz (Hz).
  4. Noise is considered to be sound caused by an array of random activities of different sound pressure levels and frequencies.

Loudspeaker Wiring

Loudspeakers connected to an emergency warning system are generally connected in a parallel to the control panel with an end of line (circuit) device (typically a resistor).

Each loudspeaker is also fitted with a “step-down” transformer and a capacitor as described in the following illustration. The “step-down” transformer provides an ability to adjust the power to each speaker, therefore adjusting the local sound pressure at each loudspeaker.

Measuring Sound Pressure

In measuring sound pressure levels, the human ear is not equally sensitive to all frequencies, meaning that humans perceive some sounds louder than others depending on the frequency.  As a result the measure of sound pressure is frequency weighted so that the measured sound pressure level correlates more closely to perceived sound pressure level by a human.

In the measurement of loudness, an A-weighting frequency filter is commonly used to emphasize frequencies around 3–6 kHz where the human ear is most sensitive. A-weighting attempts to match the response of the human ear to noise and A-weighted sound pressure levels are labeled dBA.

Measuring Speech Intelligibility

Speech Intelligibility is a measure of the degree to which speech can be understood. Intelligibility is affected by many factors including spoken clarity, explicitness, lucidity, comprehensibility, precision, quantity & quality of speakers, area acoustics and background noise.  Developed in the early 1970’s, the Speech Transmission Index (STI) is an machine measure of intelligibility whose value varies from 0 (unintelligible) to 1 (excellent intelligibility).

Speech Intelligibility STI-CIS Scale where ZERO is BAD and ONE is EXCELLENT

Operation of an Emergency Warning System

An emergency warning system is generally configured to be activated automatically on an alarm signal activated by;

  • an automatic fire sprinkler system; or
  • a fire detection and alarm system; or
  • an emergency control point.

On receipt of an alarm signal, the emergency warning system is typically activated as follows;

  • Building Occupant Warning System
    Typically a building occupant warning system is configured a single amplifier/circuit and on the receipt of an alarm the entire loudspeaker circuit is activated.
     
  • Sound Systems for Emergency Purposes
    A sound system for emergency purposes is more often than not a system that has two or more evacuation zones fitted. In this case, the typical operation is for the system is that the evacuation zone corresponding to the source of the alarm signal is operated first followed by a delay where the next adjacent zone is then operated. The cascading sequence is then repeated until all evacuation zones have been operated or the system has been manually disabled.

Sound systems for emergency purposes may also be fitted with verbal messages to provide additional warning to occupants. These messages may also be configured to assist occupants in multilingual environments.

These systems may also be used for non-emergency purposes such as public address, or background music. In these cases, the systems is designed in such a way as to ensure the CIE can override these features in an emergency condition.

Maintenance of Emergency Warning Systems

AS1851:2012 Front Cover

The maintenance of these two types of evacuation system does vary slightly according to Australian Standard AS1851:2012 depending if the system was designed to AS2220, AS1670.1 or AS1670.4.  Please consult the relevant Australian Standard and the manufacturers specifications for detailed maintenance obligations.

NOTE:    Where electronic sounders are used as part of an occupant warning system, sounders should be tested for the purposes of maintenance in a similar way as amplified sound systems producing an evacuation signal in accordance with AS1851.

In summary, emergency warning systems are designed and installed to alert and evacuate building occupants of an emergency.  This is typically conducted in accordance with a defined set of emergency response procedures. Emergency warning systems are versatile systems than can also be used for other purposes such as public address and background music.

Disclaimer

Firewize policy is one of continuous improvement, details of products, procedures or methods described within this document are subject to change without notice. All information provided here is believed to be correct at the time of publication.

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information which is provided in good faith nothing contained herein is intended to incorporate any representation or warranty, either express or implied or to form the basis of any legal relations between the parties hereto, additional to or in lieu of such as may be applicable to a contract of sale or purchase.

This guide is provided solely on the basis that users will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information. Firewize does not accept any liability for any injury, loss or damage incurred by use of or reliance on the information.

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