Evacuation from assembly halls containing loose and linked chairs - An experimental study

Abstract: The purpose of this report is to examine and analyze the difference in safety during evacuation with linked and unlinked chairs, respectively. In order to do this a series of experiments were concluded in a large assembly hall at Lund University. Three different setups were used in the experiments; one with a sturdy linkage, one with chairs linked together with cable ties and finally one setup with the chairs unlinked. The experiments were documented and the evacuees answered a questionnaire. The results were examined and analyzed in order to see if any conclusions could be drawn.