ISO/TR 16738 Evaluates Escape Behavior During Fire
October 23, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) issued ISO/TR 16738:2009 - Fire-safety engineering - Technical information on methods for evaluating behavior and movement of people.
The report provides information on how people behave when fire breaks out, which can be used to help design buildings that make escape easier and reduce exposure to flames and heat.
ISO/TR 16738:2009 describes engineering methods used for the evaluation of life-safety aspects of fire-safety engineering design for built environments, including structures such as tunnels, underground complexes, ships and vehicles.
It also gives advice on the evaluation, quantification and management of human behavior, particularly escape behavior, during a fire emergency, as well as on the evaluation of people's susceptibility to the effects of exposure to fire and fire effluents.
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 on the influence of fire, smoke and heat on required safe-escape time.
- The evaluation of available safe-escape time in relation to the human capacity of to resist fire and heat.
"The basis of life-safety design consists of provisions for the protection of occupants from fire exposure and provision for means of escape," said David Purser, convenor and project leader of the working group which developed the technical report.
"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."
The report was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 92 - Fire safety, subcommittee SC 4, Fire safety engineering.
Source: International Organization for Standardization (ISO).