SFPE WEBINAR: FIRE SAFETY IN SCHOOLS: ANALYSIS OF HUMAN FACTORS

https://www.sfpe.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1364421&group=

Presented by: Glenn Hamilton, Senior Fire Engineer, Sotera 

Children are a vulnerable group in society, and less is known about their characteristics during evacuation compared to adults. This dearth has been acknowledged more recently by the fire safety fraternity, with a number of studies on the evacuation of children conducted over the last ten years. The physical and cognitive characteristics of children can vary depending on age, and individual development, making accurate engineering assumptions for this occupancy group problematic at the design stage. However, when robust externally validated data is accessible to Fire Engineers, the uncertainty in designing child-centric buildings using performance fire codes, can be reduced, Glenn's presentation will focus on the research he has undertaken on the evacuation of children, over the past 5 years. 

Learning Objectives: 

Glenn's presentation will discuss the following: 

Typical pre-evacuation times and factors that influence this component of the evacuation

The use of modelling speed (actual travel speed) for model configuration as opposed to horizontal travel speed, which is the theoretical speed that pupils can walk. 

Empirical data on vertical travel speed and the influence of density on stairs. 

Specific flow of children at exits, when compared to the accepted data for adults.