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Mustering and evacuation of passengers - scientific basis for design

Objective



Objectives and content
In case of emergencies aboard ships, passengers and crew
should assemble at their "muster stations"--relative safe
areas where life-saving equipment such as lifeboats is
available. If necessary, the passengers can leave the
ship from the muster stations. In order to limit the
consequences of the emergency, mustering and evacuation
should proceed in a fast and orderly fashion. National
and international regulations are increasingly stricter
in this respect and, secondly, prescribe norms on total
evacuation performance rather than on the performance of
isolated parts of the system. This means that
behavioural aspects should be included. The industry
needs new design features as well as new methods to
comply with regulations and standards in a cost-effective
way. Computer models that predict mustering and
evacuation as a function of time are promising tools, but
they fall short of reality because they neglect passenger
behaviour, and ignore ship motion completely. Moreover,
they do not address the effects of new design features.
The aim of the present basic research proposal is to
study the effects of new design features such as
"intuitive" systems for guiding the passengers; corridors
and stairs that offer improved walkability in a moving or
a listed/heeled ship. These effects will be assessed
under realistic ship-motion and behavioural conditions
such as "group binding". The data will be made available
in reports but also in the form of improved tools
(computer programs) for the prediction of mustering and
evacuation. The approach will be a combination of
behavioural and technical expertise. The outcomes of the
project will be tested and evaluated on pragmatic value
by a classification society and a national authority.
The promise is: improved safety, improved safety
standards, and cost reduction.

Call for proposal

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Coordinator

NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK TNO*
EU contribution
No data
Address
Kampweg 5
3769 ZG SOESTERBERG
Netherlands

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Total cost
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Participants (6)