A Study on the Exit Requirements in Karaoke Establishments

Karaoke is an activity in which people sing in association with music. Such activity is highly popular in Hong Kong and Pacific Rim countries. This chapter utilises a state space modeling technique in analyzing the effect of the requirements on the escape routes and discusses the additional fire safety measures for karaoke establishments. The evacuation process in a karaoke establishment can be considered as a system. The process is continually changing in a time-dependent manner. Karaoke establishments are normally subdivided into three types of compartments namely, unprotected zones, partially protected zones, and fully protected zones. Occupant states in each level are considered as state variables. The evacuation process of the occupants in a karaoke establishment can be simulated by the state space model. In January 1997, seventeen people were killed and twenty-five injured in the Top One Karaoke blaze in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.