Spatial Familiarity and Exit Route Selection in Emergency Egress (original) (raw)
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Way finding during fire evacuation; an analysis of unannounced fire drills in a hotel at night
Building and Environment, 2010
Findings in earlier studies on fire evacuation and way finding suggest that building features have influence on evacuation behaviour. For example, way finding is believed to be strongly dependent on the lay-out of the building and seems to be hardly dependent on (escape) route signs. Though some aspects are investigated, it is not discussed at great length. In particular there is little insight in how persons find their escape route, and how this process can be supported with lay-out and design measures has been hardly examined. Thus, there is need for insight in the decision-making processes which evacuees pass through. In this paper are the results presented of 83 evacuation experiments in a hotel building at night. The main focus of the study is on way finding during fire evacuation. In the evacuation experiments we investigated the possible influence of smoke and low placed exit signs on the human fire response performance. The experiments are carried out with a traditional research method, namely the registration and evaluation of unannounced fire drills. The study is conducted as part of the validation of a new research method that makes use of serious gaming. The results of the study suggest that smoke has influence on the route choice: when no smoke is perceptible the majority of the participants escape via the main exit and when smoke blocks the route towards the main exit, the majority of the participants escape via the fire exit. Furthermore, low placed exit signs appear to have a positive influence on the use of the nearest fire exit. The personal feature of prior knowledge of the surroundings (or type of surroundings) is also found to have a positive influence on the use of the nearest fire exit. Self-assessments and interviews after a fire evacuation are found to be a disputable method for research on human behaviour in fire. A real-time observation of the people's behaviour during evacuation is considered to give more reliable results.
Spatial cognition and wayfinding strategy during building fire
Cognitive Processing, 2006
Simulation of human behavior in space is a powerful research method to advance our understanding of the interaction between people and their environment. It allows for both the examination and testing of models and their underlying theory of cognitive and perceptual phenomena as well as the observation of the system's behavior. This paper outlines the use of specific spatial objects to facilitate escaping from an indoor environment in a crisis situation. To represent and simulate people's processes of wayfinding it is necessary to understand how people immediately make sense of spatial situations while performing a wayfinding task which will occur in a building during fire emergencies. The theoretical outset of the research is the observation that humans show distinct behavioral and cognitive preferences when dealing with wayfinding tasks in dangerous situations. The goal of the research is to organize environmental cues and to use them in decision-making and navigation in an indoor environment in a fire emergency. Construction and inspection of mental representations of spatial environments and exploring these models have been discussed and the proposed computational model tested in an indoor complex building. Initial results verify the reliability of the model.
Time-based capabilities of occupants to escape fires in public buildings
1982
21 3;2 Underlying Behavioral Assumptions 22 3.2.1. Assumptions Relating to the Effect of Door and WAdow_Design Opon Egress_Route Perception 22 3;2;2 Assumptions Relating to the Aftect of Illumination Level Upon Egress Route Identification 23 3;2;3 Assumption Relating_to the Role oeVisual Signage and Directional Information in Egress Route Recognition and the Formation of Emergency Egress Strategies 4 7 Iti 23 TALE OF CONTENTS 3.2.4 ssumptions Retattng to the Ability of Audible and ual Alarm Signals_to EffectiVely Alert Building ceupants to a Fire Threat 3.3 Commentary 3.3.1 Problem_ 3;3.2 utititlyitt BehaVieral Models 3.3.3 Assessment'of Behavibral Assumptions Baseg on the Technical Literature
Research Report, Research funded and approed by University Grants Commission (UGC), 2019
RMG sector has made a significant contribution to the socio-economic structure of Bangladesh. However, this sector is subjected to fire hazard which has been identified as one of the major vulnerability of RMG factories causing death to a huge number of workers. According to National Building Code and Safety Guidelines of Labour Law, fire-drill is an important measure which is practiced on a regular interval by the workers to reduce the vulnerability of fire in these factory buildings, under the guidance of Fire Defense Authority. Along with fire fighting measures and regular training, the ‘Spatial Layout’ of a factory building especially its morphology has a significant role to ensure the effectiveness of such fire drills. Spatial Layout indicates the arrangement of fixed building elements like stairs, exit doors, aisles, partitions; and movable elements, like a machine, equipment, furniture, fixture, etc., on the floor plan of the building. As spatial grid is a generator of movement, the spatial layout of factory buildings has significant impact on directing all types of movement of the occupants. It is recognized that a suitable spatial layout may help the process of a fire drill to be more effective, thereby, will reduce the vulnerability in case of fire. This research has examined the ‘spatial layout’ of RMG factory buildings particularly that of production areas. Observational techniques and Space Syntax methods, both axial and visual graph analysis, have been applied to determine the morphological attributes of exiting spatial layouts and identify possible route of ‘natural movements’ of the occupants. An agent-based simulation is also undertaken following the theory of Space Syntax to identify the possible routes of evacuation movement determined by the spatial grid in relation to exits. Finally, by comparing the observed and simulated movement data in relation to the basic morphological attributes of the spatial layout, this research identified that the significant morphological characteristics, like axial and visual integration as well as connectivity, of a spatial layout bear significant relation with the primary aisles and exit locations. These primary aisles as regular movement routes have significant influence on the cognition of the workers. Being selected as part of evacuation route, these aisles play an important role in preparing an effective evacuation plan of RMG factories in Bangladesh. Moreover, morphological attributes of exits location also have major impact in ensuring safe and effective evacuation. However, the cumulative paths yielded from both conditions, i.e. virtual and observed, differs considerably, which apparently contradicts studies demonstrating that movement patterns in virtual and real conditions correlate. In fact, ‘evacuation movement’ in this study was highly task oriented, i.e. reaching the exit doors within a shortest time, was different from other non-task oriented behaviours. Theoretically evacuation movements supposed to follow restricted routes as oppose to free routes of ‘natural movement’; however, it can be suggested here that in an effective escape route ‘evacuation movement’ should correspond to ‘natural movement’ and inmates would be confident to follow those being familiar because of their regular movement. Moreover, the configuration of space needs to accommodate the primary aisles and exit doors in such a manner that these important elements of evacuation are located in accessible and connected locations within the visual field of the occupants. In addition, length of aisles and the number of turns, particularly near the exits to be supportive to the evacuation process.
Stairwell Evacuation from Buildings: What We Know We Don’t Know
Occupant descent down stairwells during building evacuations is typically described by measureable engineering variables such as stairwell geometry, speed, density, and pre-evacuation delay. In turn, predictive models of building evacuation use these variables to predict the performance of egress systems for building design, emergency planning, or event reconstruction. This paper provides a summary of literature values for movement speeds and compares these to several new fire drill evacuations. Movement speeds in the current study are observed to be quite similar to the range of literature values. Perhaps most importantly though, the typical engineering parameters are seen to explain only a small fraction of the observed variance in occupant movement speeds. This suggests that traditional measures form an incomplete theory of people movement in stairs. Additional research to better understand the physiological and behavioural aspects of the evacuation process and the difference between fire drill evacuations and real fire emergencies are needed.
Refuge areas and vertical evacuation of multistorey buildings: the end users' perspectives
Fire and Materials, 2013
Refuge areas have been utilized for some time in multistorey buildings as an integral part of evacuation strategies for those with mobility impairments. Nevertheless, there has been little research on the level of understanding of what a refuge is, nor on the views or concerns of users in the event of an emergency. This paper reports on a study to determine the knowledge and concerns that people with reduced mobility have regarding refuges, and their willingness to use them. Results indicated that almost half of the sample who 'could not' or 'would find it difficult' to descend one storey had little or no knowledge of a refuge. Having been made aware of what a refuge was and how it might be used, over three-quarters of respondents said they would be prepared to use it. Nevertheless, 60% of respondents felt that they would not be comfortable remaining in a refuge for more than 10 min without assistance. Major concerns were 'being forgotten', 'lack of information/ communication on the waiting time prior to assistance arriving', and 'being left alone'. This paper also identifies how confidence to remain in a refuge may be increased and explores awareness and feelings regarding vertical evacuation options. Copyright
Wayfinding architectural criteria for the design of complex environments in emergency scenarios
This study analyzes human wayfinding strategies in emergencies in relation to the perception of the building’s environment. Wayfinding strategies in complex buildings (by floor plan complexity, type of users, etc. ...) are put in relation to the user’s behavior and the quality of the environment around her/him, especially in emergency situations. The results of case studies concerning wayfinding in two supermarkets and a shopping mall in northern Italy are presented and compared in order to understand efficient wayfinding design criteria, especially in emergency situations. The studies concerned a cognitive mapping test in which customers and workers had to recall emergency exits landmarks inside the building, otherwise indidate how she/he would have exited the supermarket in case of emergency. In all three cases, almost 80% of elderly and adults (who are routine clients of these places) were unable to recall exits or identified themselves as behaving ineffectively in an emergency. This is an important consideration when properly designing wayfinding systems and highlights the importance of understanding human behavior, and how people perceive the environment, in order to design safer buildings.
A Review of Risk Perception in Building Fire Evacuation
2014
Risk perception (RP) is studied in many research disciplines (e.g., safety engineering, psychology, and sociology), and the context in which RP is studied varies greatly. Definitions of RP can be broadly divided into expectancy-value and risk-as-feeling approaches. RP is seen as the personalization of the risk related to a current event, such as an ongoing fire emergency, and is influenced by emotions and prone to cognitive biases. The present article is a literature review that differentiates RP from other related concepts (e.g., situation awareness) and introduces theoretical frameworks (e.g., Protective Action Decision Model and Heuristic-Systematic approaches) relevant to RP in fire evacuation as distinct from other related fields of research Furthermore, this paper reviews studies on RP during evacuation, especially on the World Trade Center evacuation on September 11, 2001. It discusses factors modulating RP, as well as the relation between RP and protective actions. This paper concludes with a summary of the factors that influence risk perception and the direction of these relationships (i.e., positive or negative influence, or inconsequential), the limitations of this review, and an outlook on future research.
The Use of Elevators for Evacuation in Fire Emergencies in International Buildings
2014
The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the use of elevators for occupant evacuation from high-rise buildings with a focus on the safety of mobility impaired occupants. It addresses the specifics of evacuation via elevators, relevant building codes, and its technical challenges. Information was collected on how selected buildings around the world incorporate elevators into their emergency evacuation procedures. Six building complexes around the world were identified and reviewed in this report. A section of this report is devoted to each building, providing general building information (height, number of floors etc.) and the building's evacuation procedures during fire emergencies, with a special focus on mobility impaired occupants. After discussing the limitations of the review process, the report gives an overview of the scientific background of the human factors of evacuation via elevators and identifies research gaps. Furthermore, methodological aspects of empirical evacuation research as well as potential beneficial measures for evacuation via elevators are discussed.
Review of Risk Perception in Building Fire Evacuation
Risk perception (RP) is studied in many research disciplines (e.g., safety engineering, psychology, and sociology), and the context in which RP is studied varies greatly. Definitions of RP can be broadly divided into expectancy-value and risk-as-feeling approaches. RP is seen as the personalization of the risk related to a current event, such as an ongoing fire emergency, and is influenced by emotions and prone to cognitive biases. The present article is a literature review that differentiates RP from other related concepts (e.g., situation awareness) and introduces theoretical frameworks (e.g., Protective Action Decision Model and Heuristic-Systematic approaches) relevant to RP in fire evacuation as distinct from other related fields of research Furthermore, this paper reviews studies on RP during evacuation, especially on the World Trade Center evacuation on September 11, 2001. It discusses factors modulating RP, as well as the relation between RP and protective actions. This pape...