NIST will be collecting data on evacuation behavior and movement of occupants from approximately 50 high-rise building evacuation drills in cities across the United States at a rate of several buildings per year. The proposed data collection will consist of questionnaire surveys that will be handed out to occupants who have evacuated previously-identified high-rise buildings as a part of a scheduled evacuation drill. The purpose of these questionnaires is to obtain information (anonymously) on 1) the background of the occupant (occupant demographics, previous training and education in fire safety, and previous experience in fire evacuations), 2) actions and decisions made by the occupant on his/her floor during the building evacuation, and 3) actions and decisions made by the occupant during the building evacuation via the stairs and/or elevators. This information is necessary to better inform building and life safety code requirements, building occupant education and training about fire safety, and tools that are currently used to assess the life safety of tall buildings in the United States.
The proposed revisions (program change) for electronic submission of the questionnaire are not expected to change the estimated burden per response but NIST expects an increase in respondents/responses of 13,334; and corresponding burden hour increase of 2,222.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.