How This Recent University Graduate Changed Opinions On Fire Watch Services

While emergency evacuation drills are good practice in fire safety as well as a key part of staff training, false alarms can simply be a waste of everyone's time. Not least for the emergency services, who could be called out for no reason if your alarm system is automated. We should all do what we can to make sure that the Fire Services are free to deal with real emergencies.

If false alarms occur occasionally, they can have a real and disruptive effect on your business and productivity. Another negative impact may be that if you have too many false alarms, the Fire Services will not respond with no specific manual request. That is not great news if you ever have a real fire.

A false alarm can be a symptom of a fault on your system, so they should never be ignored. If you cannot find the cause of an alarm activation, it's always best to call within an engineer to investigate the problem. The final thing you may need is for the same thing to happen a day or two later due to same small fault. Even worse, it may very well be a signal that an element of the alarm isn't properly functioning, which could have a serious impact within the event of a real fire, allowing the fire to spread a lot more than it otherwise might.

Many false alarms are a result of people in the building not being aware that a fire alarm system is in place, or at least not comprehending the kinds of thing that can activate the fire alarm. You may deal with these through a few simple procedures:

Ensure staff and visitors know that your building is protected by an automatic fire alarm system

Make these facts part of your induction training and fire safety training for all staff.

Have prominent notices up at all main entrances to your place of business. Use the next wording: "These premises are protected by an automatic fire alarm system. Please obtain permission from the site manager before undertaking any work involving flame, smoke, heat or sparks."

Make certain that no-one carries out any 'hot works' without permission from the Well being as well as Safety Representative, fire Marshall, or whoever has responsibility for authorising such works

Staff need to know that any work involving flame, smoke, heat or sparks must have special permission.

Build this into staff training and ensure it really is included in staff manuals, operating plans, etc.

Have a Hot Works Permit system or similar mechanism to guarantee that contractors working on site follow your safe working procedures.

Build this requirement into contracts with any contractors who will undertake work on the premises.

Make certain that no work involving the generation of dust or even the use of spray paint is performed within an area with smoke detectors in, unless the detectors are properly protected.

Make sure that someone has specific personal responsibility for going through this as well as similar matters.

If possible, smoke detectors can be replaced with heat detectors, but only by an experienced engineer.

The alternative to swapping to heat detectors is to cover and protect the smoke detectors during the period of work (with paper, plastic, etc).

This should not be done lightly, as covered smoke detectors will clearly not work correctly, informative post if at all, within the event of a real fire.

The matter should be risk assessed, and alternative means of detection put in place (such as someone in the area with specific fire-watching brief during the period of works).

Make sure that someone has the specific personal responsibility for removing the covering from the detectors when the work is finished. It is vital that this really is done promptly in order that the alarm system is fully functional straight away.

Make certain that the fire alarm system is tested after the work is completed, to make sure that it is functioning correctly.