The World Trade Center evacuation study: factors associated with initiation and length of time for evacuation

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gershon RRM ; Magda LA ; Riley HEM ; Sherman MF
• Description:
  On 11 September 2001, one of the largest workplace evacuations in the U.S. history took place. The evacuation was largely successful: an estimated 87% of all occupants in World Trade Center (WTC) Towers 1 and 2 exited in less than two hours. Evacuation times, however, were highly variable and not entirely explained by the engineering parameters of the buildings. To understand the complexity of factors that potentially influenced the evacuation time on 11 September, 2001, an interdisciplinary research study was conducted by public health scientists from the Mailman School of Public Health at the Columbia University in the New York City. Analysis of survey data collected from a sample of 1444 evacuees identified several facilitators and barriers to length of time to initiate and fully evacuate from WTC Towers 1 and 2. At the individual level, these included sociodemographic and occupational variables, health status, sensory cues, risk perception, delaying behaviors, and following a group or an emergent leader. At the organizational level, factors included emergency preparedness safety climate variables. Structural (environmental) factors included egress route barriers, poor signage, congestion, and communication system failures. Many factors identified in the study are modifiable. Therefore, these data have the potential to inform high-rise preparedness and response policies and procedures. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Behavior Construction Industry Demography Engineering Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollution Men Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Women Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: High-rise Evacuation Construction Demographic-characteristics Emergency Preparedness Environmental-hazards Evacuation Time Humans Models Organizational Safety Climate Pre-evacuation Delay Risk-factors Sociological-factors Work-environment Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  0308-0501
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  481-500
• Volume:
  36
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046553
• Citation:
  Fire Mater 2012 Aug-Oct; 36(5-6):481-500
• Contact Point Address:
  Robyn. R. M. Gershon, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032
• Email:
  rg405@columbia.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• Performing Organization:
  New York City Health/Mental Hygiene
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20090430
• Source Full Name:
  Fire and Materials
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2a90ba18931560e6eba4e8e5d4f61eb85cecc021e021ae9579f33a4f342a3c9962a7c3c47699b22fb3963a821b7360647c25982cfe5cf5cd2790a84be646134e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201568/cdc_201568_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 365.11 KB ]