Introduction to Fire Safety Management

Introduction to Fire Safety Management
Figure 9.28 The stages of escape in cellular planning
the speed the occupants can leave. Because it can be
diffi cult to predict the rate of fi re growth spread, it is
important to ensure that the occupants of the room
become aware of the fi re as soon as possible.
In a large room more than one exit may be required,
so that the occupants are never too far from an exit. The
maximum distance they should have to travel is referred
to as the ‘Stage 1 Travel Distance’. The actual distance
196
4
stairs
3
Figure 9.29 Inner room and access room
2
*
1
ACCESS
ROOM
2
3
INNER
ROOM
stairs
1
*
stairs 4
*
in metres will vary depending upon the nature of the
building and its occupants.
There are circumstances where immediate access
to an exit route is not possible and egress from an
‘inner room’ has to be made via an ‘access room’ – see
Figure 9.29.
In this case both rooms (1 and 2) are treated as part
of the Stage 1 escape, and it is necessary to ensure that
*