The
National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Advisory Committee,
the panel of 10 building and fire experts established to advise
the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST) in its conducting of technical building
failure investigations as authorized under the NCST Act, has
submitted its first
annual report to Congress (.pdf). The
committee’s 23-page document commends NIST on the progress
of the agency’s two ongoing NCST investigations—the
building collapses at New York City’s World Trade Center
(WTC) following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; and
The Station nightclub fire of Feb. 20, 2003, in W. Warwick,
R.I., in which 100 persons were killed—and makes four
major recommendations for more effective implementation of
the NCST Act.
During
its three meetings in 2003, the committee reviewed the progress
of the two NIST investigations and concluded “that both
were valuable with realistic and achievable goals.”
The committee evaluated and assessed the activities of the
two safety teams, provided guidance on procedures for carrying
out the NCST Act, and advised the NIST Director on actions
to improve the operation and effectiveness of safety teams.
Additionally, the committee received and took under advisement
a number of recommendations and comments from the public.
At the
end of its first year, the committee feels that several key
issues must be addressed if the long-term implementation of
the NCST Act is to be successful. In its report to Congress,
the committee makes four major recommendations to deal with
these concerns:
- creation
of a NCST Office within NIST’s Building and Fire Research
Laboratory (BFRL) with permanent staff and initial funding
of $2 million;
- establishment
of a safety team investigation reserve fund of $2 million
to be used at the discretion of the NIST Director to fund
investigations when warranted;
- establishment
of a program to familiarize local and state investigating
authorities about the NCST Act; and
- a
research program investigating the factors affecting human
decision making and evacuation behavior during emergencies
in buildings.
Along
with these key recommendations, the committee advises NIST
to seek methods for conducting NCST investigations in a more
timely manner. Committee members feel that NIST’s response
to building failures can be improved by:
- developing
procedures for deciding if a safety team investigation is
needed when an event occurs so that investigators can leave
immediately to evaluate the failure site, examine physical
evidence and interview eyewitnesses;
- reviewing
and seeking relief from federal regulations and procedures
(such as the Paperwork Reduction Act) that could impact
a rapid safety team deployment or impede access to information;
- developing
“first call” investigating teams who are prepared
to deploy at a moment’s notice to visit a failure
site within the 48 hours required by the NCST Act;
- facilitating
cooperation with local authorities by fostering greater
understanding of the NCST Act, the responsibilities of safety
teams and the need for safety teams to quickly access information,
materials and witnesses; and
- using
the subpoena power granted to NIST by the NCST Act to gather
information, collect physical evidence or gain access to
eyewitnesses when other measures fail.
Regarding
the ongoing NCST investigation of the World Trade Center fires
and collapses, the committee reports that all of its recommendations
and suggestions on this effort have been adopted and implemented
by NIST.
Committee
members expressed concerns that the investigation of The Station
nightclub fire was being affected by the lack of access to
certain key pieces of information, especially physical evidence
being held by law enforcement authorities and individual attorneys.
They recommend that NIST and the Department of Commerce study
and advise how NCST investigators can carry out their work
with state, local and federal agencies in the context of a
criminal investigation to gain access to critical data.
The “crowd
crush” that resulted during evacuation of both The Station
nightclub fire and a non-fire incident at a Chicago nightclub
a few days earlier clearly indicated to the committee that
factors affecting crowd egress during emergencies are not
well understood. Therefore, the committee recommends that
NIST initiate a research project to study evacuation decision-making
and human behavior during major building emergencies, including
the phenomenon of “crowd crush.”
Under
the NCST Act, signed into law in October 2002, NIST is authorized
to investigate major building failures in the United States.
The NIST investigations will establish the likely technical
causes of the building failure and evaluate the technical
aspects of emergency response and evacuation procedures in
the wake of such failures. The goal is to recommend improvements
to the way in which buildings are designed, constructed, maintained
and used.
The NCST
Advisory Committee’s 2003 Report to Congress is available
online at www.nist.gov/ncst.
The same Web address also provides links to detailed information
on the NCST Act, NCST Advisory Committee activities, the WTC
and Rhode Island investigations, and NIST’s more than
30 years of experience investigating building fire and structural
failures.
As a
non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s
Technology Administration, NIST develops and promotes measurement,
standards and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate
trade and improve the quality of life.
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