Temporary cardboard seating

[Stinky Britches]

Hi Guys - first post, so please be gentle if I'm asking a dumb question

I recently attended a conference (1000 delegates) in Berlin. The large hall was filled with temporary seating that consisted of 100s of cardboard boxes. They were very strong, but they were just ordinary corrugated cardboard boxes (500x500 to sit on and about 600 high). We set fire to a few and they burned exactly as you would expect a corrugated box to burn.  There were set out sensibly with good seatways and gangways, but there was no way to secure them into coherent rows, so they would almost certainly scatter and become a significant trip hazard in an emergency evacuation.

The company I work for was hugely impressed with these cheap, easily branded seats and is now considering their use for a similar event in the UK. As I'm not a fire or safety specialist I though I should swing by this forum for some thoughts and musings from people wiser than me in these matters. I think these boxes are a menace, but I would appreciate your thoughts.

[Tom Sutton]

When conducting a FRA the following will be considered, upholstered seating, carpets and other textile floor coverings and underlays should be resistant to ignition. Temporary seating with more than 50 persons should be fixed together in a minimum of four and fitted to the floor if there is more than 250. I think your cardboard boxes would be hard to meet those requirements and there are many more rules, check out BS 9999 or BS 5588 part six.

Check out https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/14889/fsra-large-assembly.pdf.

[Stinky Britches]

Thank you Tom. I appreciate your help. You've just given me my homework for the weekend. Our due diligence starts here. Thanks for your advice. 

[Tom Sutton]

Hope you have a deep pocket you will need it for the BS.