Alarm & paging acoustic regulations and practicality

Offshore Oil & Gas installations rely upon communication systems to facilitate production, provide general announcements and alert personnel to potentially hazardous situations. As more personnel travel the globe following the jobs, the work environment encounters different regulations with the same goal in mind - safety of personnel and processes. Most often, the public address & general alarm (PA/GA) system is used to convey this information. Designing a PA/GA system that may be heard and comprehended under normal working conditions can be a daunting task. Many times the design of acoustics is left to chance and begins at the end of a project's lifecycle. This paper should educate individuals about acoustics, the requirements for audio levels offshore and how to design a speaker system to meet these requirements.