HEALTHCARE FIRE SAFETY
Fire alarm panels should be checked daily to address faults or disablements.
should be confidence in the schedule. The schedule should have been fully tested and proven prior to project handover. Where the following is in place the cause-and-effect should be checked: where any significant changes have occurred in the past 12 months, and where there are fire door release mechanisms which only operate on activation of detectors on either side of the door (as opposed to those that operate on activation of any device in that zone).
A percentage of the cause-and-effect is to be tested annually. This should include detection devices and call points. Such a percentage is to be rotated, so that different areas are checked annually, or as determined by the risk-based programme, which may deem that more regular testing is required. The percentage to be checked should be agreed by the Fire Safety Committee with relevance to the specific site and system. Where the checks uncover significant discrepancies, the percentage to be checked should increase accordingly.
n What do I need to do? Ensure that a fire alarm maintenance protocol has been developed which is based on the risk, and is backed by evidence, covering checks, testing, and maintenance – including cause and effect.
A fire alarm panel in an operating theatre.
n False alarms and unwanted fire signals
A ‘false alarm’ (see Figure 1) is defined as ‘activation of the fire detection and alarm system from a cause other than fire’. Given the thousands of fire and smoke detectors and call points typically found in a complex healthcare facility, Firecode Part B recognises that the complete elimination of false alarms may not be possible. However, each healthcare organisation should continuously strive for their elimination through careful design, appropriate equipment selection, adequate reporting, recording, and then investigation and rectification, of the causes of false alarms. Every false alarm should be investigated by the Responsible Person, Authorised Person (Fire Safety Maintenance), or the Authorised Person (Fire), and efforts taken to identify the root cause. The investigation should include the involvement of all stakeholders, and the action to be taken to eliminate recurrence. Where false alarms are persistent,
they can cause disruption to services, erode staff morale, and cause patients distress. This can also lead to a loss in confidence in the fire alarm system, with the risk that people will not respond appropriately when a fire detection and alarm system raises an alert to a real incident. The number of false alarms should be reported at least quarterly, and should be
included in the healthcare organisation’s annual report, including trends over the past three years. The Authorising Engineer (Fire) should include this in their audit, and it should be included in the annual internal audit, as outlined in HTM 05-01.
n What do I need to do? Ensure that a protocol has been developed, to ensure that every false alarm is investigated effectively, reported on, and all reasonable efforts are being taken to reduce the incidence of false alarms.
n Unwanted fire signals The term, ‘An unwanted fire signal (UwFS)’, refers to the point at which a false alarm results in a request to the fire and rescue service to attend. UwFS are disruptive and costly to the fire and rescue service. They can divert essential fire and rescue service resources from real emergencies, putting life and property at risk. They cause unnecessary risk to fire crews and the public while responding to an UwFS. Hospitals are a major source of UwFS. A ‘seek and search’ system may
be introduced for specific buildings. However, generally, it is preferable to have the same system in place site-wide. ‘Seek and search’ in this context refers to a delayed call to the fire and rescue
June 2024 Health Estate Journal 29
Anthony Pitcher, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership
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