Improvement of Phased Evacuation Scenario based on Analyses of Pedestrian Flow in Stairwell during Drills in High-rise Office Building

Abstract

In Japan, a standard on the minimum capacity of escape staircases according to occupant load is not regulated except for some building uses. Therefore, staircases can't contain all occupants in an emergency case. Even though they attempt to evacuate building, most of them must wait in staircases and/or corridors for a long time, which must cause heavy congestion. Thereby, the phased-evacuation method has been recommended for preventing it, but there is no specific method or standard related to the strategic plan. In order to improve a sequential evacuation plan, evacuation drills were conducted at a high-rise office building in Tokyo, and year by year the scenarios of evacuation guidance were advanced a lot better. However, having several unexpected reasons or behaviors; not following broadcasting order, walking slow for chatting and having disability, some drills hadn't been carried out as predicted. The purpose of this study is to consider the real-time control method of changing the scenario for providing guidance flexibly in a sequential evacuation using security device such as attendance management system and security cameras in the future.