FIRE SAFETY ROUND-UP Monitoring life safety assets
Drax Technology’s new asset tracking solution, AssetWhere, is designed to help locate and, if necessary, monitor the status of life safety-related assets ‘including, but not limited to’, fire extinguishers, fire doors, hose reels, or evacuation chairs.
Sales director, Alex Cother, said: “We understand the challenges Trusts face in monitoring the condition of fire detection sensors and other life safety critical equipment. We also know healthcare estates teams now expect financial and productivity benefits, alongside enhanced compliance, when investing in new technologies.”
A ‘major London NHS Trust’ is currently working with Drax Technology running a trial in a busy hospital ‘street’ to investigate the feasibility of using the AssetWhere sensors to monitor fire door status and fire damper operation within one of its hospitals. The hospital’s
Fire detector for ‘high-risk’ environments all the technology seen within the standard
Apollo Fire Detectors has launched a new, ‘unique’ low-profile fire detector – Soteria Dimension, which uses new optical sensing technology ‘in the form of a virtual sensing chamber’ that operates on the light-scatter principle.
Apollo says the flush-fitting detector ‘offers the choice of an aesthetically pleasing detection device’. It is also designed to prevent tampering, with a chamberless detector. If the device is covered, the proximity sensors will give a fault signal.
The Soteria Dimension Specialist detector variant, meanwhile, encompasses
detector, but also features an anti-ligature metal faceplate and tamper-resistant screws. Tested and approved for anti- ligature certification to TS001, it meets the requirements of the Ministry of Justice specification STD/E/ SPEC/038. Apollo said: “The result is a detector with greater resilience against interference or damage, suitable for use in high-risk areas such as prisons and healthcare establishments.” Both device variants have surpassed the requirements of European Standards EN 54 Part 7 and EN 54 Part 17, and are designed to communicate with CoreProtocol (but are also backward compatible with Discovery and XP95 protocols), and to facilitate maintenance and servicing, with comprehensive features – ‘from self-test capabilities to drift compensation warnings on dirty detectors’.
Well trained, well prepared
Topics covered by Eastwood Park’s fire safety training range from fire precautions in building design, to specialist guidance for hospital fire safety managers.
The training establishment said: “For those carrying out fire risk assessments in hospitals, or assessing their suitability, we offer a course on fire risk assessment in healthcare premises. Recent events at the Bristol Royal Infirmary highlight the disruption a fire can cause to hospital
42 Health Estate Journal June 2018
services, even with robust fire safety plans in place. Large- scale evacuations are never easy, but with vulnerable patients, including those with poor mobility, those under medication, or dependent on electrical/mechanical equipment, complete evacuation can be impractical, and could pose more of a risk to patient safety than the fire itself. “HTM 05-02 details evacuation
facilities management provider is keen to measure the status and performance of its fire doors, and must meet KPIs in respect of keeping the doors maintained economically and operational. Drax Technology has installed 10 wireless sensors to monitor whether a door is open or properly closed. Once harvested, data can be used to generate reports and display key information on a dashboard, providing alerts to a change of state, when a service is due, or a replacement is needed. Reports can also be generated for analysis or compliance.
‘Established name’ takes Kentec reins
Life safety control systems manufacturer, Kentec, has appointed Kevin Swann as its new managing director. Pictured left, he succeeds Kevin Restell (right), who is retiring after over 25 years with the business and its parent company, Hochiki. Kentec said: “Kevin Swann is an established name in the fire and security industry, with some 28 years’ experience. He was closely involved in the protocol standard evolution at Apollo, and has held a number of senior positions within UTC Fire and Security as MD (Global), and regional manager for UK and Ireland. He joins at an exciting time for Kentec, which has seen turnover increase by 54 per cent under his predecessor’s leadership, and doubled its manufacturing capacity.”
Kevin Swann added: “We thus have the perfect platform to make Kentec the world-leader in open-protocol and multi-protocol fire detection panels, and the first choice for fire extinguishing panels, with our robust, industry-leading Sigma XT and Syncro XT technologies.” The appointment coincides with Hochiki’s 100th anniversary, and Kentec’s investment in the ‘new generation’ Taktis fire panel. “Taktis is the only open- protocol and multi-protocol panel, and is building significant momentum in the marketplace globally,” added Kevin Swann.
strategies that do not require removing everybody from a building. Progressive horizontal evacuation is generally considered a
preferable strategy. It is essential, therefore, that fire safety plans are considered at all stages of the design and build process, which requires specialist knowledge and training for those involved, and for those responsible for fire safety going forward.”
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