SR143 A review of international research efforts related to occupant pre-movement and response times in firesin fire (2005)

This report provides an introduction to human behaviour associated with the pre-movement phase of fire evacuation.

Relevant research on human behaviour in fires is discussed and a considerable number of pre-movement data sources are reviewed. They comprise research work, actual fire incident reports and reports from experimental work including trial evacuations from around the world.

A matrix is used to identify the same data sources by country of origin. This is important where cultural differences may lead to modification of the response actions.

The ongoing international research effort is briefly described, and recommendations for further work are proposed.