The LWF Blog

Fire Safety for Facilities Management Personnel – Human Behaviour – Part 276

October 28, 2024 11:52 am

Lawrence Webster Forrest (LWF) is a specialist fire engineering and fire risk management consultancy whose aim is to give information on best practice in fire safety for facilities management personnel through this blog series. In part 275, LWF discussed human behaviour in fire situations and how this can impact the resulting evacuation process. In part 276, we talk in more detail about how people make decisions at an early stage of the evacuation process.

David Canter’s study – Fires and Human Behaviour (ISBN 1853461393) – gives a well-informed description of human behaviour in serious fires, based on early psychological research. A quote follows:

“The confusions and ambiguities of the early stages are apparent, with the subsequent search for further information. This is followed by firefighting or flight, depending on the particular circumstances. The part played by the existing communication pattern within the organization in either helping or hindering coping with the fire is also clear in all incidents. Escape then appears to take place directly in relation to normal modes of entry and exit from the building. In this, smoke plays a role of hindering egress but not necessarily preventing it, some people moving long distances through quite dense smoke. Furthermore, sensible actions are frequently found whereas irrational nonadaptive responses are never recorded. Where fires lead to loss of life there is frequently not only slow response to early cues, but also administrative confusion in terms of who should take what actions.”

The last sentence is particularly on point when relating the text to the major fire disasters of the 1970s and 1980s. Indeed, the fires already mentioned in this blog series represent the tip of the iceberg when it comes to cases which have been affected by delayed reaction and confusion when a fire occurs or the fire alarm system is operated in a building.

Although the study of human behaviour in fire situations is still in its relative infancy, practical implications have been drawn and formulated and codes of practice have changed to incorporate the most significant research points, including input into BS 9999 (through DD 9999, withdrawn) and PD 7974-6:2019.

In part 277 of this series, LWF will begin to look at what human response to fire alarms entails from the point of view of human behaviour in fire situations. In the meantime, if you have any queries about your own facilities or wish to discuss this blog series, please contact LWF on freephone 0800 410 1130.

Lawrence Webster Forrest is a fire engineering consultancy based in Surrey with over 35 years’ experience, which provides a wide range of consultancy services to professionals involved in the design, development and construction and operation of buildings.

 

While care has been taken to ensure that information contained in LWF’s publications is true and correct at the time of publication, changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of this information.