Author Description

Background: The resultant injuries and deaths from non-residential fires have been on the rise in the United States the last decade. Although evacuation is a primary prevention method to avoid potential injury or death for indoor fires, many people in the workplace still fail to evacuate when they hear a fire alarm. This presents a safety and public health issue. Aim: To determine if the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA)--a theory of behavior not regularly used in the context of safety behaviors--can help identify if employees' belief determinants for the behavior of, "leaving the office building immediately the next time they heard a fire alarm at work" can predict intention to evacuate. Methods: An electronic survey measured the RAA and other constructs. A convenience sample of employees at Indiana University-Bloomington was used. Multiple regression analysis were performed to examine intention controlling for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education level, and faculty status for Study 1. In Study 2, a hierarchical regression model was implemented to examine predictors of intention including demographic characteristics, background variables--past behavior, past experience, perceived risk, and self-reported knowledge, and the global constructs from the RAA--attitude toward the act, perceived norm, and perceived behavioral control. Study 1 Results: From the multiple linear regression, N=490, F(14, 475)=41.30, p