Toward the Characterization of Building Occupancies for Fire Safety Engineering: Capability of Disabled People to Negotiate Doors

摘要

This paper is the third in a series of four that collectively provide a substantial body of knowledge on the egress capabilities of people with disabilities. It presents the results of an experimental program to determine the ability of disabled people to negotiate doors with closing forces that range from 20 N to 70 N. The results indicate that many disabled people find it impossible to negotiate doors, even at relatively low closing forces, and that the time it takes disabled people to negotiate doors can vary considerably. The results of this study are presented for the use of those involved in the difficult task of characterizing building occupancies with respect to their egress capabilities.