Tactile paving has been designed in response to the needs of vision-impaired pedestrians to be independent, mobile, confident and safe when using the external environment. Tactile paving is not without its critics because it can adversely affect other pedestrians particularly older people, and those with mobility impairments. Interviews were conducted at eight selected road crossing sites in Edinburgh to determine older people's experiences of using specific road crossings, in particular their views and experiences of using tactile paving. Two hundred participants were interviewed who were aged 65 years and older, and who appeared not to have a significant health issue or disability that was affecting their mobility. In addition, eight pedestrians who had significant mobility issues and 30 pedestrians who had moderate to severe vision impairment were interviewed. Findings demonstrate the importance of training in tactile paving for pedestrians with a vision impairment; the need for a review of the guidance on tactile paving such that greater emphasis is placed on detectability and tonal contrast, and tonal contrast; a consideration as to whether seven types of tactile paving is too many; and the need to minimise the effects of topography, particularly slope at road crossings.
In 1989, a research project entitled, “Fire Safety and Engineering” was conducted at the Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering, the University of Sydney, and involved 70 leading researchers and engineers from around Australia. It was found that fire safety and protection facilities constructed in accordance with current Australian regulatory requirements are a significant component of the cost of many buildings in this country. The project team concluded that with the development of systematic approaches to building fire safety and protection design, based on risk assessment models and fire-engineering design techniques, substantial cost savings can be made while achieving satisfactory levels of life safety. There is an urgent need for a greater understanding by designers and regulatory officials of fire phenomena, human behavior, and fire engineering techniques.
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