Recent proposals in the government’s Localism Bill to allow Fire Authorities to charge businesses for the time and resources used in call outs for false alarms have raised concerns in the fire safety community that businesses will simply turn their fire alarm systems off in a bid to avoid penalties.
While this is a genuine worry, we believe in prevention rather than cure and would like to remind you that there are ways of preventing false fire alarms before the fire service needs to be summoned.
It is worth noting now that while false alarms waste precious public funds that would be better spent saving lives that are really in danger, false alarms cost your business too – never mind the potential penalties we could be seeing in the future.
During the time it takes for a false alarm to be managed the productivity of your business will take a hit and your customers could be neglected. Last year we wrote about a false alarm that led to a full evacuation of Celtic Manor in Newport during the Ryder Cup. Not only is evacuation on such a scale is a logistics nightmare, the residents likely left the resort with resounding memories of being awoken in the early hours of the morning rather than with pleasant memories of golf.
So, how can we prevent false alarms in the first place? Common sense and good communication in the day to day running of your business go without saying. But you can also ensure you have a fire alarm system that is capable of registering an alarm and giving you time to assess whether it’s genuine.
Fire safety standards allow a time delay between the activation of a fire detector and the full alarm system being set in motion. This time delay is fully taken advantage of by many fire alarm systems, such as the Simplicity Micro Fire Alarm System and the Rafiki Twinflex Fire Alarm System, allowing you to verify the alarm during a set time period.
Through these systems a number of detectors can be set as checkpoints. If they are triggered a localised alarm will sound and the detector will also be identified on the fire alarm control panel. This gives anyone nearby or with access to the control panel a chance to investigate the alarm and clear it if necessary. If the alarm is not cleared during the verification period the system will then go into full alarm mode.
These moments between identification and full alarm are often enough to prevent full false alarms as well as the problems, and potential penalties, they bring.
Both the Simplicity Micro Fire Alarm System and the Rafiki Twinflex Fire Alarm System are available now.
Discount Fire Supplies sell a range of fire alarms, fire alarm accessories and much more. Browse our online shop or contact us for a quote today.
