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The purpose of the study was to investigate if dynamic way-guidance systems, namely flashing green lights mounted by an exit sign, can be used to increase the usage of lesser known egress routes in department stores. The study consisted of a literature study as well as experiments at Gekås department store in Ullared, Sweden. Two experiments were undertaken, one in the vicinity of the checkout and normal exit and one within the store far from the known entry and exit. 102 visitors of the store participated in the experiments. The participants were one by one presented with a voice alarm and their choice of exit were observed. The participants also answered a questionnaire as part of the experiments. The results suggest that there is an increase in the usage of the exits with the green flashing lights installed. However, the increase is too small to be statistically significant. The questionnaire results suggest that the participants have a good understanding for, and mostly positive associations with, the examined system.

The purpose of the study was to investigate if dynamic way-guidance systems, namely flashing green lights mounted by an exit sign, can be used to increase the usage of lesser known egress routes in department stores. The study consisted of a literature study as well as experiments at Gekås department store in Ullared, Sweden. Two experiments were undertaken, one in the vicinity of the checkout and normal exit and one within the store far from the known entry and exit. 102 visitors of the store participated in the experiments. The participants were one by one presented with a voice alarm and their choice of exit were observed. The participants also answered a questionnaire as part of the experiments. The results suggest that there is an increase in the usage of the exits with the green flashing lights installed. However, the increase is too small to be statistically significant. The questionnaire results suggest that the participants have a good understanding for, and mostly positive associations with, the examined system.

The purpose of this report is to examine the safety of people during evacuation of the nightclub Etage in case of fire. Etage is one of the biggest night clubs in Malmö and can receive a maximum of 500 guests during opening hours. Three different fire scenarios were analyzed along with evacuation scenarios. These were simulated in the programs FDS and Simulex. In many of the scenarios the evacuation time exceeded time to critical conditions, therefore the final analysis showed that safety of people cannot be guaranteed and it is not acceptable. The conclusion is that a combination of different measures has to be taken to secure safe evacuation conditions. The specific combination is not presented in the analysis and the manager should discuss solutions together with a specialist. There are several uncertainties and limitations in the analysis that could have affected the final results. A big limitation is that the organized fire protection of the business and the staffs’ ability to extinguish a fire has not been considered. Therefore the risk analysis might be too conservative. The safety of the people during evacuation is possibly better than the results showed in this report.