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Author Topic: Queuing times at exits  (Read 6237 times)

Offline Alex Manning

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Queuing times at exits
« on: July 14, 2004, 04:28:57 PM »
I am after some help on the following topic:

I am trying to find out what research/papers etc (if any) that have studied the behavior of people evacuating a building, with a ocus on the time taken to evacuate.

The specific information I am after is a maximum time deemed acceptable for persons queuing at an exit. I have found a figure of 8 minutes from the "Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds" booklet, but there is no mention of where this figure was derived from.

Any help is much appreciated

Alex
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Chris Houston

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Queuing times at exits
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2004, 08:22:34 PM »
The Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 Part II Section 5:

1 .......exits themselves shall be kept clear at all times......

2 (b) in the event of danger, it must be possible for employees to evacuate the workplace quickly and as safely as possible.

(bold done by me, obviously footy fans are not employees)
_______________________________

With regards ot point 1, if an exit is blocked by queing people, it is clear?

With regards to point two, 8 minutes is a long time to wait if the building is on fire.  I would expect most worplaces to be evacuated within 1 minute from start to finish.

That said, the law tends to give employees more rights than visitors.  Also modern football stadia will probably be constructed of non combustible materials, most other places don't have the same benefits.
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Offline Peter Wilkinson

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Queuing times at exits
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2004, 08:49:24 PM »
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(all the stuff I said above is purely my own personal view and in no way represents any official view of my employer)

Offline wee brian

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Queuing times at exits
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2004, 02:10:45 PM »
The 8 Minutes is how long people are "happy" to que when leaving a venue.
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Offline logan_lewis

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Queuing times at exits
« Reply #4 on: August 12, 2004, 01:08:41 PM »
The origins of much of the guidance in recognised standards assumes a 2.5 minute time for people to pass through exits - such as moving from a storey into a stair enclosure.  Also, links back to unit width of exit (21" 533mm).

Sports Grounds have different fire, physical and behavioural dynamics, hence the 8 min figure (subject to construction) is so much higher...exits routes tend to be much wider and crowd movement is more "efficient" in theory.

Loads of work has been done on this, but it is all different !  Work in Canada has been some of the best around, although I think the human behaviour guy, Dave Purser, at BRE has done work on this as well...he's also speaking at a Human Behaviour in Fire Conference in Belfast in September along with loads of other experts.

See http://www.intercomm.dial.pipex.com/html/events/hbifp1.htm
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Guest

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Queuing times at exits
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2004, 07:34:56 AM »
The myth of evacuation time taken to empty a building, stadium, etc during a fire drill cannot be a determine factor of how long it will take to evacuate the structure under actual emergency situation. When the real emergency occurs, the speed of egress can vary greatly depending on many factors, including the number of occupants, their mobility, their reaction and behavior, dimension of the egress components and the distance they must travel. Will the building staff and fire wardens know what to do and perform their duties well? Are evacuation facilities available to facilitate speedier evacuation?
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