A Review of the Biomechanics of Staircase Descent: Implications for Building Fire Evacuations

Movement on stairs is a crucial factor that influences people’s ability to evacuate from buildings in fire emergencies. In fact, the accessibility of stairs during multilevel evacuations is considered to be a criterion for the tenability of a building. Biomechanical analyses of pedestrian staircase descent add nuance by characterizing factors relevant to safe movement on stairs, such as foot placement, use of handrails, and balance. While these factors are not traditionally captured by evacuation analyses and models, their inclusion can point to areas of particular risk during evacuation from physiological, environmental, design, and engineering standpoints. This systematic review presents relevant biomechanical aspects, with a particular focus on factors that influence downward movement on stairs for evacuation purposes. The review begins with findings on walking speeds, gait analysis (e.g., cadence and foot clearance), as well as changing demographics are summarized. Then, research on balance control (vision, proprioception, and limb coordination) is presented, followed by findings on fatigue and grasping. Implications of the empirical findings are then considered for evacuation modelling, safer and more efficient evacuation procedures, as well as building design. Finally, limitations of the review itself and future research needs are explored.