Open-Air-Events-and-Venues-NI-Fire-Safety-Guide-Final-Draft-from ...

compromised by fire. If doors or other exitsleading to escape routes are too close toone another you should consider whetherthe fire could affect both at the same time.If that is the case, it may be necessary todiscount them both from your calculation.escape routes – outdoorsAt open-air sites or venues it is normallynecessary to assess the adequacyof escape routes by considering theappropriate escape time and the capacityof the escape routes. However, for somelow risk areas where there is unrestrictedaccess for people to move to a place ofreasonable safety, it may not be necessaryto apply all the guidelines in this section.escape timesEscape times may be only a proportion ofthe total evacuation time for your event aspeople move progressively away from thefire. The escape time will most likely be thetime taken to move to a place of relativesafety within the event boundaries, whilethe evacuation time is most likely the timetaken to empty the event. Care shouldtherefore be taken in the use of the termsto describe escape or evacuation times andto what part of your event or venue theyapply.The information in this section is providedto demonstrate the range of escape timesavailable to you in the assessment of yourevent and is derived from the guidanceprovided in the Northern Ireland Guide toSafety at Sports Grounds 10 .The maximum escape time for open-airevents can vary between 5 and 10 minutes.The times suggested (see Table 4) dependlargely on the level of fire risk present (seelevels of risk on p 63). Where the openairevent has a higher risk, escape routesshould be based on an escape time of notmore than 5 minutes. Where the open-airevent has a lower fire risk, escape routesmay be based on an escape time of up to10 minutes.Table 4: Open-air escape timesRiskHigherNormalLowerescape route capacitiestime< 5 minutes> 5 < 10 minutes< 10 minutesThe capacity of an escape route isdetermined by the rate at which peoplepass along the route during each minuteof the defined escape time. The followingare suggested rates of passage for open-airparts of venues:• on all routes within seatedaccommodation (including gangwaysand ramps) and stairways – 73 people/metre/minute; and• on all routes in other parts of the eventor venue (including within standingaccommodation) – 109 people/metre/minute.The width and capacity of the escaperoutes required for the number of peoplepresent can be calculated by using theformula:number of peopleTotal exit width =flow rate x escape time83