Factors that affect behavior in fire

Question 1

Three factors that affect behavior

Answer 1

Occupant factors
Building factors
Environmental factors

Question 2

Name some of the occupant factors that affect behavior in a fire

Answer 2

Age and gender
Commitment/investment
Focus
Training
Experience
Alone/with others
Role
Culture
Alcohol/drugs
Condition over time

Question 3

Occupant factor - Age and gender: What does it impact?

Answer 3

Cognitive ability
Mobility
Fight/flight vs. tend/befriend (men check fire, women check people stereotypically)

Question 4

Occupant factor - Commitment/investment: What does it impact?

Answer 4

Commitment or investment in an activity needs to be broken, otherwise they won’t evacuate

Question 5

Occupant factor - Focus: What does it impact?

Answer 5

Focus on a lecture, a movie in a movie theater, game in a casino needs to be broken. Use where the attention is to break focus (screen and signs)

Question 6

Occupant factor - Training: What does it impact?

Answer 6

Improved response
Knowledge of exits
Post-evacuation

Question 7

Occupant factor - Experience: What does it impact?

Answer 7

Lessons learned, they react faster, e.g. bombing of WTC in ‘93 (hours to evacuate) vs 9/11 (much faster)

Question 8

Occupant factor - Familiarity: What does it impact?

Answer 8

Knowledge of exits and/or emergency plan
False sense of security
Learned irrelevance (“do not use unless emergency”)

Question 9

Occupant factor - Alone/with others: What does it impact?

Answer 9

People move at the speed of the slowest person

Want to protect familiar people

Question 10

Occupant factor - Role: What does it impact?

Answer 10

People stay in their role and the same rules apply as before, e.g. leaders will lead, followers will follow
Beverly Hills Supper Club: expectation of assistance

Question 11

Occupant factor - Culture: What does it impact?

Answer 11

Dress
Language
Hierarchy
Individualistic vs group-oriented
Different systems (signs, alarms, doors)

Question 12

Occupant factor - Alcohol/drugs: What does it impact?

Answer 12

Delayed reaction

Incapacitation

Question 13

Occupant factor - Condition over time: What does it impact?

Answer 13

Vulnerability to the fire effects, e.g. hospital vs group of young people

Question 14

What would be some of the building factors that affect occupant behavior in a fire?

Answer 14

Building use and type
Dimensions and geometry
Complexity
Means of egress
Conspicuousness of emergency exits
Lighting and signage
Population density
Distribution and activities
Warning systems
Fire safety systems

Question 15

Building factor - Building use and type: examples

Answer 15

Residential vs nonresidential (home fire: long time for people to start evacuation)
High-rise vs low-rise

Question 16

Building factor - Dimensions and geometry, complexity: What does it impact?

Answer 16

Too complex -> longer evacuation

Question 17

Building factor - Means of egress: Where do people tend to go?

Answer 17

People tend to go to corners of a building or the end of a corridor in case of emergency

Question 18

Building factor - Conspicuousness of emergency exits: What might affect it?

Answer 18

Many lights around exit sign may make it hard to see

Signs are red in the US (not good)

Question 19

Building factor - Lighting and signage: What needs to be taken into consideration?

Answer 19

Needs to be clearly visible, even in case of power outage

Needs to stand out from surroundings

Question 20

Building factor - Population density, distribution, and activities: Examples

Answer 20

Assembly spaces vs bedroom in hotel - lots of people, maybe drinking, vs 1 or 2 people
Casino - engaged, need to break their attention
Nonresidential spaces after-hours - US deaths in office usually after hours when they’re alone

Question 21

Building factor - Warning systems, fire safety systems: Examples

Answer 21

Bells vs alarms - bells only alert, alarms can tell you what to do
Voice message
Evacuation plans
Floor wardens (NYC) - responsible for telling people to evacuate, at least one on every floor in NYC

Question 22

What would be some of the environmental factors that affect occupant behavior in a fire?

Answer 22

Weather
Fire
Smoke spread and density
Debris outside
Time of day

Question 23

Name the relevant models and theories for this course

Answer 23

Behavior sequence
Role-rule model
Theory of affordance
Theory of affiliation
Risk perception
Help in emergencies
Social influence
Panic

Question 24

Describe how we want people to respond to an evacuation alarm vs how they’re more likely to respond

Answer 24

• Respond promptly
• Follow instructions provided
• Use egress routes efficiently
• Move directly to a place of safety
  vs
• Interpret cues/instructions or miss them
• Respond differently
  
  • Search for information/others
  • Delay movement
  • Use familiar routes

Question 25

Why is it important to understand human behavior?

Answer 25

• Influence time to reach safety
• Allows “reasonable” performance estimates of time
• Understand discrepancy between design and use
• Informs interpretation of results produced
• Determines effectiveness of procedural measures
• Should be considered when designing structures and emergency plan
  If not, may underestimate egress time and overestimate safety level