<p>In emergency situations, individuals requiring rescue from high-rise structures are at risk of sustaining critical injuries or even losing their lives due to factors such as fall impact, descent conditions, and uncontrolled drop speed. Although several solutions have been implemented to mitigate this risk, there remains a need for systematic research to guide the design of reliable personal evacuation systems. The present study presents both numerical and experimental investigations aimed at understanding the working mechanism and dynamic behaviour of a free-fall personal rescue device. A drop-test tower with safety provisions was developed to facilitate controlled descent testing, and a centrifugal braking mechanism was incorporated to regulate the fall speed. Aluminium HE30 was identified as a suitable structural material owing to its high strength and thermal resistance. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) confirmed that stress levels remained within safe limits, ensuring structural reliability without excessive wear or failure. Experimental trials were conducted with varying dead weights and heights, focusing on descent speed, stability, and frictional performance. Once the descent speed was verified to be within the safe range of 0.8–2.0&#xa0;m/s, live human testing was successfully performed from an 18&#xa0;m height. To complement the structural and experimental studies, the Taguchi method for the design of experiments (DOE) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to optimize critical design parameters. The results identified the coefficient of friction as the most significant factor influencing descent speed, followed by spring stiffness, while the drum surface roughness primarily contributed to system stability. This integrated methodology combining FEA, experimental validation, and statistical optimization significantly enhances the reliability of rescue devices and provides valuable guidelines for the future design and development of high-rise evacuation systems.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>