Ensuring safe evacuation of people from nightclubs

Abstract

The paper considers the problems of standardisation of evacuation routes and exits in nightclub buildings. The absence of regularities of people's movement in such buildings in the normative and research literature does not make it possible to estimate adequately the projected and existing planning decisions from the point of view of providing the safe evacuation of people, but also the value of individual fire risk. The analysis of fires has shown that the main cause of loss of life in a nightclub fire is untimely evacuation due to the accumulation of human traffic in front of the building exits. In order to determine the parameters of the flow of people, there were conducted preliminary field observations in nightclub buildings. Statistical analysis of the data obtained made it possible to establish the dependence of the movement of people up and down the stairs, horizontal path and through the doorway. The results of modeling of people evacuation have shown significant differences between the data presented in the methodology of assessment of fire risk and the data obtained in the research. The data obtained allow a reliable assessment of the criteria of safe evacuation of people in the design and operation of nightclubs, as well as the calculation of individual fire risk.