Research/reports- Fire safety – Evaluating behaviour during evacuation

A new ISO technical report on how people behave when fire breaks out could help in designing buildings that make escape easier and reduce exposure to flames and heat.

Fire-safety engineering ISO/TR 16738:2009, Fire-safety engineering – Technical information on methods for evaluating behaviour and movement of people gives information on engineering methods used to evaluate safety aspects of fire-safety engineering design for built environments.

It gives advice on the management of human behaviour, particularly escape behaviour, during a fire emergency, as well as on the evaluation of people’s susceptibility to the effects of exposure to fire and fire effluents.

For all scenarios, it is important to be able to assess the likely behavioural responses, either as part of the original design, or as part of a fire risk assessment. In particular, ISO/TR 16738:2009 provides guidance on:

• the evaluation of escape and evacuation times from buildings, both for occupants not directly exposed to the fire or fire effluents, and also for exposed occupants; and
• the evaluation of available safe-escape time in relation to the human capacity to resist fire and heat.

David Purser, convenor and project leader of the working group that developed the technical report, commented: “The basis of life-safety design consists of provisions for the protection of occupants from fire exposure and provision for means of escape. ISO/TR 16738:2009 will be useful for building-design professionals, as well as regulators and fire safety professionals, on the engineering methods available for evacuation strategies and life-safety aspects when designing buildings.”

ISO 16738:2009, Fire-safety engineering – Technical information on methods for evaluating behaviour and movement of people is available from ISO national member institutes. It may also be obtained directly from the ISO Central Secretariat, priced at 168 Swiss francs, through the ISO Store, or by contacting the marketing, communication and information department on tel:  +41 22 749 03 36; e-mail: [email protected] 

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