International comparative analysis on regulatory provisions and codes of fire evacuation safety for physically challenged people

As regards evacuation safety of physically challenged people, legislations, standards, and other requirements in any form significantly vary from country to country. Against the backdrop of the enforcement of the so-called Barrier-free New Law adopted in 2006 in Japan, the accessibility of physically-impaired people has been notably improved. However, the reach of this law seems to only help the daily lives of the physically challenged population and falls short when faced with an emergency such as a fire or an earthquake. The purpose of this study is to perform a comparative analysis of different countries' law enforcement of fire evacuation regulatory provisions for physically challenged people such as mobility impaired, elderly people, small children, and similar impaired individuals. The authors conducted a questionnaire survey on the requirements and the enforcement of fire evacuation regulatory provisions for these people in sixteen different countries. The results indicate that Japan is a country that is lagging far behind in safety regulations, while more stringent legal systems are established in many other surveyed countries. Since the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics games are scheduled to be held shortly in Tokyo, it is to be expected that improvements of the conditions for a barrier-free of safe evacuation for physically challenged people will be promptly implemented at the earliest possible date.