FIRE & ELECTRICAL SAFETY
SAFETY FIRST: BRIDGING THE AWARENESS GAP Research by Hochiki Europe has shown awareness of the maintenance
requirements for fire safety and emergency lighting systems is increasing among building owners. However, as the company’s General Manager of Sales and Marketing Tracy Kirk explains, more can still be done.
In the UK, it is a legal requirement for building owners and managers to inspect, test and maintain fire and life safety systems. As well as reducing the risk of false alarms, these efforts help to keep systems in full working order while also ensuring the safety of building occupants.
All too often, these systems are not maintained effectively once installed. According to new research from Hochiki Europe however, awareness of the legal requirements surrounding life safety systems is increasing among building owners and managers.
RAISING AWARENESS A study of European installers by the business found that the number of building owners and managers unaware of the legal requirements surrounding life safety system maintenance had halved, falling from 46% in 2015, to 22% in 2016.
Despite this increase in awareness, the number of building owners and managers experiencing false alarms showed little change from the previous year, dropping just one per cent from 29% in 2015 to 28% in 2016.
More worryingly, failing to correctly update fire safety systems to suit a building’s use was the most common issue installers found when visiting
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a customer site. The installation of inappropriate equipment by the original contractor (40%), detectors that needed cleaning (33%) or replacing altogether (27%), were also among the top maintenance issues encountered by installers in the annual study.
Installers reported similar maintenance issues with emergency lighting systems, with 44% encountering broken or faulty lamps and 39% finding inadequate levels of signage to direct building occupants to safety.
SAFETY FIRST If a fire or emergency lighting system is not maintained, it could develop a number of faults that would limit its effectiveness and put the safety of building occupants at risk.
There are a number of ways in which the fire safety industry can support building owners and managers in maintaining fire safety and emergency lighting equipment, and protecting their buildings’ occupants. In line with legal requirements, the ‘premises management’ need to ensure a fire safety logbook is used to record all maintenance checks along with any findings or issues encountered. Raising awareness of the importance of logbooks can encourage building owners and their facility management
teams to undertake more regular maintenance checks in the interests of occupant safety and system efficiency.
By a similar sentiment, building owners need to ensure regular monitoring of emergency lighting is carried out. This is crucial to ensure the signage offers the right lux levels for the needs of the space it is installed in, in accordance with British Standard (BS) 5266 Emergency Lighting: Code of practice for the emergency lighting of premises.
Dust and other air particles can negatively affect the performance of fire safety systems and increase the risk of false alarms. With this in mind, it’s also important that building owners and managers make arrangements for the regular cleaning of all fire detectors, in accordance with manufacturers’ instructions.
INDUSTRY MAINTENANCE Both installers and life safety equipment manufacturers need to continue to be active in educating building owners and their facility managers in the importance of maintaining fire and emergency lighting systems. In doing so, they can ensure their life safety systems meet regulatory requirements and offer the highest standards of protection to building users.
www.hochikieurope.com
www.tomorrowshs.com
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