Analysis of Evacuation Scenarios for Elderly Workers in the Workplace: A Case Study of Factory C in Tainan, Taiwan

• 발행기관: 한국화재소방학회
• 저자명: TzuShan Hsu ShiuanCheng Wang LiangSheng Wu ShaoChen Hsu ChungHwei Su
• 간행물 정보: 『International Journal of Fire Science and Engineering』Vol. 39, No. 2, 164~175쪽, 전체 12쪽
• 주제분류: 공학 > 공학일반
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2025.06.30

국문 초록

It is expected that Taiwan will become a super-aged society by 2025. Companies are forced to hire more older workers due to labor shortages. Considering the gradual decline in physical functions among the elderly, it is crucial to adopt appropriate evacuation strategies during emergencies. This study utilizes Pathfinder to simulate the evacuation of the operational area in Factory C, Tainan, Taiwan. A steering mode is employed to model crowd phenomena. Scenarios are set up to investigate the differences in evacuation between elderly workers and regular workers at the same location. The parameters analyzed include the walking speed of the elderly, the impact of obstacles, and the hindrance caused by the opening of fire doors. The results indicate that the evacuation time for elderly workers is 1.32 times longer than that for workers of average age. The simulation results show a variation in the number of people passing through each exit, highlighting the necessity for planning appropriate evacuation routes. The difficulty in opening heavy fire doors significantly affects the evacuation of elderly individuals, suggesting that some factory facilities need to be reassessed to accommodate the increasing number of elderly workers.

목차

1. Introduction

2. Aging of the Labor Force

3. Safety Considerations for Evacuating Elderly Personnel

4. Research Methodology

5. Results and Discussion

6. Conclusions

References

키워드

Elderly worker Evacuation Super-aged society Egress Occupational safety