The decision-making between evacuation and shelter-in-place (SIP) in case of multi-hazard chemical accidents

Abstract

One of the reasons for the shelter-in-place (SIP) strategy is not often adopted in chemical industries is the lack of methods that can effectively guide evacuees to make the optimal evacuation decision. Evacuees face the decision-making between direct evacuation and SIP in case of a chemical accident. This paper proposes a method for evacuees to make real-time decision between direct evacuation and SIP according to the dynamic risk assessment of fire, explosion, and toxic release multi-hazard chemical accidents. This method can guide evacuees to adjust their evacuation decisions according to the development of the accident, and guide the chemical industry to optimize the SIP location planning based on evacuees’ decisions.