1. Project Results
The project has now been completed and successfully met all of its six objectives. In total four full-scale evacuation trials and the five walking speed experiments were undertaken. The data-set generated from these nine trials involving 1,072 participants incorporates around 2,200 data points, extracted from 3 GB of video data, and information from 61 worker questionnaires.
 |
| Inside the formworks |
The data-set involves:
 |
| Equipment used in data collection |
The analysis of this data has produced a unique evidence base characterising, for the first time, the actual performance and behaviour of construction workers during emergency evacuation. The evidence base consists of:
- response times for workers in the main building and the formworks, as measured from the sounding of the alarm in the main building,
- worker walking speeds on different types of surfaces, such as concrete, decking and decking with rebar, and
- worker ascent and descent speeds on temporary dog-leg and parallel scaffold stairs and ladders.
 |
| Analysis of Response Times |
  |
|
Walking speed and stair speed trials |
|
 |
| Measurement of ladder ascent/descent speeds |
The data have also been incorporated in the building evacuation simulation tool buildingEXODUS, providing it with a unique capability to simulate evacuation from high-rise construction sites. The performance of the software has been validated using measured data collected from the trials. The validated software has been used to explore how evacuation procedures for high-rise construction sites can be improved, including the impact of reducing worker response times, replacing ladders with temporary scaffold stairs within the formworks, and using hoists to assist in evacuation.
 |
| Validation Case Geometry |
 |
| Validated buildingEXODUS used to explore how hoists can be used for construction site evacuation |
2. Conclusions
The use of the evidence base and the modelling software will inform the development of more reliable evacuation procedures, improving the work environment, through better preparation for, and management of, on-site emergency evacuation, and advancing the safety of construction workers. Potential uses of the evidence base and modelling approach include:
- addressing limitations, assumptions and omissions in guidelines and regulations, including those produced by the Health and Safety Executive, through the incorporation of the evidence base.
- use of the evidence base by construction site health and safety managers to inform training of workers and the formulation of best practice.
- use of suitably validated modelling tools by construction site managers to define enhanced evacuation procedures.
3. Useful Links
- The full report can be downloaded from: www.iosh.com/constructionevacuation
- Construction site evacuation simulation videos and this video can be found on the FSEG YOUTUBE Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/user/FSEGresearch
- The High-Rise Construction Site Evacuation Modelling Validation Data-Set can be downloaded from: http://fseg.gre.ac.uk/validation/building_evacuation/