SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF BUILDINGS IN RELATION TO FIRE DRILLS IN RMG FACTORIES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO EMERGENCY ESCAPE ROUTES (original) (raw)

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.