Exit Width Provisions for Emergency Egress

This study has demonstrated that with the changed demographics of the worldwide population, people have increased in size considerably in the period since provisions for egress and minimum exit widths were implemented for buildings and assembly areas on the basis of contemporary population mobility studies. The current situation is that the existing egress provisions are unlikely to deliver the evacuation times required by fire safety designs. Suggested means of correcting this potentially serious shortfall in egress capacity go beyond the obvious solution of simply increasing exit widths which, apart from new buildings, would be considered uneconomic and impractical. Other solutions suggested range from increasing fire protection to allowing longer times for safe evacuation and reducing occupant numbers. More radical solutions suggest the previously forbidden practice of using elevators for the evacuation of people with disabilities and limited mobility. In advocating the use of elevators, strategies for staged evacuations are suggested where the most at-risk areas are cleared first. The concept of safe or refuge areas within buildings is also promoted where occupants may simply wait to be rescued.