Evaluation of time when evacuation of production site personnel begins. Ways to overcome the challenge on example of compressor shop

• Main Author: Albert E. Kirilov
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Perm National Research Polytechnic University 2016-06-01
• Series: Perm Journal of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
• Subjects: evacuation; rescue; fire safety; operative actions of personnel; danger fire factors; convective column; compressor shop; notification and evacuation control system; fire alarm; gas-transporting unit; evacuation start time; decision time; human psychodiagnostics; complex sensory-motor reaction; simple sensory-motor reaction
• Online Access: http://vestnik.pstu.ru/get/_res/fs/file2.pdf/5816/Evaluation+of+time+when+evacuation+of+production+site+personnel+begins.+Ways+to+overcome+the+challenge+on+example+of+compressor+shopfile2.pdf

The article describes a method for estimating start time of evacuation of personnel working in a machine room of a gas compressor shop operated by a pipeline company. The method provides two options for estimating evacuation start time depending on reliability of a notification and evacuation control system. The first option implies that a notification and evacuation control system operates properly and is able to act as alarm in case of fire. In such sircumstances evacuation start time is estimated depending on psychophysical characteristics of humans, response time of a notification and evacuation control system and duration of operative actions. The second option implies that a notification and evacuation control system is out of order or not installed in a room. In this case employees are considered to detect fire visually assuming that a formed convective column of flue gases is the source of fire danger. Time taken by smoke to fill a convective column is considered as time needed for a person to detect fire. Psychophysical characteristics of humans and duration of operative actions are considered as well as in the first case. It is suggested that psychophysical characteristics of humans should be determined by results of computer-based psychodiagnostics. In order to estimate time needed for personnel to take prompt actions the article offers a network approach for evaluation of response speed of an operator. A method for estimating evacuation start time was developed taking into account current methodological issues in estimation of time characteristics of human actions during first stages of evacuation based on foreign and domestic research on human behavior in case of fire.