15 March, 2010
Different directions
In the USA, emergency exit signs show the word 'EXIT' (solely in English), usually in red, which subliminally suggests 'danger', 'stop' and hence 'not this way'. Elsewhere, the international convention is a pictogram (universally recognisable) of a stick figure running through a door, depicted in green (suggesting 'safety', 'go' and 'this way').
In explaining why the US standard is unlikely to change, Robert Solomon of the National Fire Protection Association says that:
when the NFPA investigates fires, it never encounters circumstances "where someone says I didn't know where the exit was because I didn't know … what the exit sign was."
Okay, but isn't there a flaw in that argument? I'd have thought the opinions which matter most are those of the people who
didn't escape, for whatever reason.
Posted by Ministry at 19:52
| 133 words
