WORKSHOP: HUMAN BEHAVIOUR IN FIRE
ORGANISED BY
HUMAN BEHAVIOUR IN FIRE NETWORK (HUBFIN) 

 

1. Human Behaviour in Fire Workshops

The EPSRC sponsored Human Behaviour in Fire Network (HUBFIN) is organising a major workshop to address a very specific question.  The question is “Is Fire Safety being compromised by lack of knowledge of Human Behaviour in Fire".
 

This half day Workshop will be held on 19th August at the University of Greenwich the day before the start of the International Conference on Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics (PED 2003) hosted and organised by Prof E Galea at the University of Greenwich.
 

The workshop will feature short presentations from of eminent speakers drawn from different sectors but with specific interests in Fire Safety Engineering.  An opportunity will also be provided for delegates to participate in the discussion.  A draft programme will shortly be made available.
 

This is an important workshop addressing a very pertinent question.  It is a low cost participative event the outcomes of which will have considerable impacts.  If this workshop and subject matter is of interest to you and you have views or questions you want to share take this opportunity.  The number of participants will unfortunately be limited. 

Please register your participation now by contacting the HUBFIN website at http://www.engj.ulst.ac.uk/hubfin

 

2.      Background

The development of human behaviour in fire into an area of scholarly study has been rapid with research in the field driven by performance based fire safety design and the establishment of  Fire Safety Engineering as a Profession.  However, at present the field of fire safety engineering research is particularly fragmentary.  Public safety concerns are assuming increasing importance in an environment of deregulation and increasing completion pressure.  It is difficult to mount co-ordinated programmes of research across a multi disciplinary field that spans structural fire engineering, materials performance through to human behaviour in fire.  The disaggregated nature of human behaviour in fire research means that much benefit can accrue from establishing greater coherence and visibility in both research objectives and research training.  Against this backcloth the Human Behaviour in Fire Network (HUBFIN) which is supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) was established.
 

The broad objectives of HUBFIN will be realised in three ways

(i)   Networking

·        Providing a forum for academics and research users to reflect on national and international developments and to formulate research questions

·        Brainstorming and developing new fields or study

·        Facilitating cross-fertilization of ideas and collaboration by networking

(ii)  Dissemination

·        Improving dissemination routes for the output from university research to the user community, i.e. industry, government, BSI, ISO and research funding bodies

(iii) Developing the Research Community

·        Training new researchers in proposing and managing high quality research

·        Organising appropriate staff development activities

·        Sharing current research infrastructure activities between universities