Analysis the Cognitive Ability of Workers to Hear Fire Alarms Construction Sites

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether workers were aware of fire alarms when sirens and bullhorn loudspeakers sound at construction sites that have many internal partitions. The experimental results revealed that when a fire alarm was activated at a construction site, workers in close proximity to the source of sound heard the alarm, whereas those far away did not. Workers at construction site may be prevented from hearing a fire alarm because of the noise generated by both, the workers and construction work. In addition, it is inferred that construction sites have many obstacles that hinder the transmission of soundwaves because they tend to have internal structure that include many partitions. Thus, it was found that complete evacuation from a construction site in the event of a fire was difficult because the sound of the fire alarm was not adequately transmitted to the entire site.