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Article History

Received: 12 May 2023

Accepted: 21 August 2024

First Online: 4 September 2024

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: All four authors worked on this study as independent researchers. Although none of the four authors were working under the auspices of any research institution, the research team undertook an ethical screening process, that identified that the ethical risks were low risk in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study inquired about existing practices relating to complacency during a fire evacuation and no biomedical studies were conducted by any of the authors. This study does not contain any studies with human participants performed by the authors and therefore was performed in line with the principles of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

: The Survey did not seek the identification of the respondents’ nor the organisations’ identity, and was totally voluntary. The individual respondent could choose whether to participate or not and was informed that “an international research team is working to contribute to fire safety by documenting complacency during a fire evacuation”. “This is an anonymous survey. We would appreciate it if you could take ten minutes to complete the survey online by clicking on a dedicated link”. It was also explained that measures were in place to ensure the confidentiality of this data. The individual taking the survey therefore chose whether to participate or not. This study does not contain any studies with human participants performed by the authors, therefore, informed consent was not relevant to this study or this paper.