Risk Assessment and Human Behaviour

The unit introduces students to basic fire safety engineering design concepts and presents the knowledge concerning occupant communication and response sub-models and subsystems as a basis for assessing the necessary input data for a risk assessment model. An introduction to Building Code of Australia (BCA) and Fire Engineering Guidelines is provided. Important aspects of human behaviour during fire will also be introduced. Many assumptions generally held about the way humans respond to fire emergencies have been shaped by the media and provide a sensationalised view. In this unit, we will seek to clarify this view by presenting research to uncover what can truly be expected from people when a fire occurs. Statistics from coronial and survived data will be examined to provide an overview of who is at most risk when a fire starts. The focus will be on urban and residential structure fires, but human behaviour during bushfires will also be discussed. Other areas covered in this unit are: - Fire statistics and statistical analysis of occurrence, death and injuries. - Introduction to risk management including probability, reliability, fault trees, event trees. - The initiation and development of fires, fire characterisation, fire toxicity and design fires.