Tag Archives: nfpa

Cartoons Send a Clear Message

Lee Wilson, founder of the Accessible Exit Sign Project believes that cartoons are an excellent way to send a message in a clear, informative and humorous way. As people say, “a picture paints a thousand words“.

The following cartoons are a creative collaboration between Lee Wilson and Michael Richards. Michael is a professional cartoonist based in Washington in the U.S. Michael’s the creative drawing talent and Lee comes up with the ideas and colors in the cartoons.

Whilst these cartoons may not be humorous, we hope that they can help highlight the need for accessible buildings with an accessible means of egress.

Please contact Lee to discuss the free use of these cartoons for non-commercial purposes, such as in presentations, websites, newsletters, magazines or the like where they will help convey an important message.

A Lack of Emergency Evacuation Lift

No accessible egress via a fire stairs

Emergency Evacuation Lift

Refuge Area Communication

Evacuation Chair Use

Network Messages via Computer System

Non-Accessible Exit Door

People with Disability Evacuation

Emergency Elevator (or Passenger Lift) Accessible Signage

04/01/2016 Lee Wilson, Access Consultant, Universal Design Consultant

Over the last four decades there has been a growing consensus that tall buildings must consider the use of specially designed and constructed evacuation lifts as part of the overall egress strategy of a building.

It has been widely acknowledged that the use of an evacuation elevator / passenger lift will speed up fire evacuation and will provide a critical component of an accessible means of egress for those occupants with disability.

However, when an evacuation lift is provided, there needs to be suitable signage displayed in prominent locations so that building occupants know of its availability.

There is no point designing and installing an evacuation elevator but neglecting to provide suitable signs. This would be unsafe and defeat the purposes of the extra level of evacuation safety provided by the evacuation elevator.

Furthermore, people are conditioned not to use an elevator during an emergency. “Do not Use Elevator in Emergency” signs (or similar wording) are displayed in most buildings. So if the lift is to be used for evacuation purposes, then people need to know.

A consistent approach using the Accessible Means of Egress Icon can help to provide a consistent, clear and informative message to building occupants. There must also be accessible formats of signs installed at an accessible height range for all people, with Braille and tactile information.

The image above shows a suitable sign currently being produced in Australia by Braille Sign Supplies, http://braillesignsupplies.com.au/stock-sign-categories/egress.html

This design also has a tactile version of the Accessible Means of Egress Icon.

People with Disability Evacuation, Universal Design Meets the Exit Sign

Universal Design Meets the Exit Sign Video

08/10/2015 Lee Wilson, Access Consultant, Universal Design Consultant

We are very excited to let everyone know that the Universal Design Meets the Exit Sign promotional video has also now been released.

It is available on the Universal Design Meets the Exit Sign website at the moment, as well as on YouTube. It will be loaded onto a dedicated page on this website very soon.

Check out the new website too, there’s lots of great information.

Uncategorized

Evacuation Guidebook Sponsorship Opportunities

14/09/2015 Lee Wilson, Access Consultant, Universal Design Consultant

The Evacuation Guidebook

Over the past two years Lee Wilson, founder of The Accessible Exit Sign project has been researching the area of evacuation considerations for people with disability.

Following the initial review he released a Guidebook titled “Evacuation of People with Disability & Emergent Limitations: Considerations for Safer Buildings & Efficient Evacuations”.

Since the 1st edition release in July 2014 the Guide has been downloaded as a PDF document over 900 times and shared in countless workplaces around the world.

The Guide has also been featured in the International Fire Protection Magazine, both in the May 2015 printed magazine and on-line. The online article continues to link to the download page.

This Guide is now currently being updated and is due for re-release on 19 October 2015. This date will be a few days after the Association of Consultants in Access Australia Conference (7-9 October 2015). Lee Wilson is also presenting the Universal Design meets the Exit Sign White Paper at the conference and will be promoting the Guide in the presentation.

The 2nd edition of the Guide will contain approximately 165 pages in total, including useful information and considerations for all building occupants, including people with disability, the elderly, the young and any other person who might find it a little difficult to leave a building in an emergency.

5 Year Sponsorship Opportunities

For a limited time until 12 October 2015, Lee is offering sponsorship opportunities for companies willing to partner with him. He needs resources to convert the Guide to other accessible formats, and to a dedicated website, and can offer great exposure for your company or services if you help.

Note – this a 5 YEAR COMMITMENT!

For those parties that are interested:

You have the opportunity to advertise your company on a national and international platform for a minimum of 5 years.
You will provide some important funding to continue my campaigns and programs to spread awareness of disability egress issues and fund the hosting of my websites.
Revenue from sponsorship also helps to fund conversion of the Guide into other accessible formats, for everyone’s use.
You will already be active in the area of evacuation, emergency management, building surveying, fire engineering, disability access, evacuation devices etc. and have products or services that complement the subject matter.

In return for your sponsorship:

The Guidebook will remain a FREE download for a minimum of 5 years.
He will list your name or company under a ‘Sponsors’ heading of the PDF document, located in the Preface section (before the Table of Contents).
Your actual advertisement will appear in your selected location of the document.
He will leave your advertisement and listing in the Guide for at least 5 years, as there is no intention to update this Guide in the near future again, so your details will remain in the Guide for a minimum of 5 years. That presents as a good investment.
He will also add you to a list of Evacuation Guide Sponsors under the main menu on the Accessible Exit Sign Project website where the Guide is available. He will include a company name, company website and a small 250px x 200px image of your choosing to this page. This webpage is already live and waiting for your details. Your details will remain there for at least 5 years.

Sponsorship Options

The following sponsor packs are available, and they come on a first come, first served basis:

Quarter page advertisements under your chosen Guide Section $500
Half page advertisements under your chosen Guide Section $800
Inside front cover $1,500 full page
Inside front cover $800 half page (top or bottom)
Rear cover $1,200 full page
Inside rear cover $900 full page
Inside rear cover $500 half page (top or bottom)
Centre page (left) $1,000 full page
Centre page (right) $1,200 full page
Centre page (top left) $500 half page
Centre page (bottom left) $500 half page
Centre page (top right) $600 half page
Centre page (bottom right) $600 half page

Terms and Conditions

Please note that Lee holds discretion to what is considered acceptable content and may not accept any company name, service, or artwork that does not align to the Guidebook subject matter.
All advertisements will have the word Advertisement placed above.
Full page, half page and quarter page sizes are based on A4 page sizes, being 2480 x 3508 pixels.
Half page and quarter page size advertisements to be supplied in high resolution .JPG or .PNG file formats.
Half page and quarter page size advertisements will be located in the best possible position within the text to optimize your advertisement.
Full page size advertisements can also be supplied in .PDF file formats.
Companies may choose to select multiple options to achieve maximum exposure.
A tax invoice will be supplied to all Sponsors.
Currency listed above is Australian Dollar AUD
Payment can be made via PayPal or EFT.

Thank you

Please contact Lee for details at – http://leewilson.com.au/contact/

Media & Press, News from around the World

Planning for Evacuating People with Disability, International Fire Protection Magazine Article, March 2015

30/03/2015 Lee Wilson, Access Consultant, Universal Design Consultant

Lee Wilson, Founder of the Accessible Exit Sign Project was approached late last year to write an article for the Asia Pacific Fire Magazine, which has now been published in the International Fire Protection Magazine, Issue 61.

You can now download a copy of the article by clicking the image above or this link

This is reproduced with permission from www.ifpmag.com

The following is an extract of the opening of the article:

A gap exists in many countries legislative framework relating to the evacuation of people with disability under disability discrimination, building and workplace safety laws. This gap exposes those members of the community with disability, particularly those with sensory or mobility disabilities to the risk of being delayed in their ability to evacuate a building or being entrapped within a building.

In 1997 the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) acknowledged this gap and recognised the need to improve the provisions for access and emergency egress for people with disability. The ABCB published RD 97/01, Provisions for People with Disabilities, a Regulatory Document which proposed an amendment to the Building Code of Australia (the ‘BCA’). The proposed amendments included radical changes to the access and egress provisions, including the requirement for accessible exits or places of safe refuge, or a combination of the two. Most of the access provisions proposed at that time were subsequently introduced into Volume 1 of the 2011 edition of the BCA, part of the National Construction Code. The access provisions have generally remained unchanged in subsequent editions of the BCA.