FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS
nurses. Royal Papworth Hospital’s whole- site sprinkler system also interfaces with the fire alarm system. Static Systems designed the fire alarm system so that it would pick up signals from the sprinklers’ flow switches, and display this information on a PC-based display screen, which was designed specifically for this purpose. This screen also captures information on other plant that the sprinkler system monitors, including water and oil tanks. In total, approximately 75 signals are monitored by Static Systems and displayed on the bespoke screen.
Evacuation planning
A fire alarm processor. The new hospital has a particularly interesting fire alarm and management system, with 15 networked fire alarm panels, and over 4,000 addressable devices, including 1,900 detectors.
a significant amount of co-ordination required to ensure that they would interface together. We also needed to understand where the various items of equipment were being installed, and how they were being fitted, to ensure that there were no physical clashes of equipment and materials.
Royal Papworth Hospital’s fire alarm system also interfaces with other equipment throughout the hospital, including the security, nurse call system, and sprinkler systems. The security system at Royal Papworth integrates with the fire alarm on a floor-by-floor basis to release door locks and activate other devices. To maintain security integrity, certain more sensitive areas have different operations in the event of a fire condition.
Nurse call system
The fire alarm system also interfaces with the nurse call system, which was also designed, supplied, and installed by Static Systems in much the same way as the fire alarms. In the event of a fire, fire messages are displayed on the nurse call indicators, providing supplementary information to
Skanska’s view
Sean Smith, senior Project manager for Skanska, said: “The new Royal Papworth Hospital was a challenging project, with a large number of interfaces between the various systems. The early involvement of Static Systems in the design and development of the fire alarm system, along with its knowledge and experience, were key to enable the design team and other specialists to integrate the fire alarm with the other systems such as security, nurse call, BMS, and sprinklers. This early involvement and collaboration played a crucial role in the successful implementation of all the necessary interfaces, coordination, and installation. Static Systems remains involved at Royal Papworth Hospital in providing the reactive and planned maintenance for the system.”
62 Health Estate Journal June 2020
Evacuation planning was also a key consideration when designing the fire engineered system for the new Royal Papworth Hospital. In the event of a fire, hospitals typically have a phased evacuation process, whereby a fire in a zone would result in the affected zone being evacuated and adjacent areas being given an alert. However, at Royal Papworth Hospital, the Trust wanted to create a bespoke operation when it came to the ward areas. As each ward area went across more than one of the fire zones for the building, the Trust wanted an evacuation process based on the ward areas rather than on the fire zones. Static Systems was able to design the system to meet this requirement.
A reliable, long-term solution There are other examples where Static Systems integrated other systems to meet the Trust’s specific requirements. For example, a disabled refuge system was installed where, in the event of a fire, there are designated places of safety on every level for patients who can’t escape via the staircases. The disabled refuge system interfaces with the fire alarm system, so that in the event of an alarm, the refuge system is activated. People with mobility issues can then talk to security teams via a call point speaker. Static Systems also programmed and supplied a PC-based interactive data station for the fire alarm system, enabling maintenance teams to get an overview of the health of the system, obtain information on each of the individual devices, and, where required, isolate, add, or re-label devices.
Following the installation of the fire engineering system at Royal Papworth Hospital, there was a considerable period of testing to ensure that all of the systems met the rigorous criteria of Skanska and its client, the Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The whole installation and testing period went very well, and Royal Papworth Hospital’s patients, staff, and visitors can rest assured that they are protected by a reliable and highly sophisticated system that will have a significant lifespan. Static Systems continues to be actively involved at the site, providing ongoing system maintenance in partnership with the hospital’s facilities management company.
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Chris Smith
Chris Smith, head of Project Delivery at Static Systems Group, joined the company as an apprentice in 1985, and has since held several engineering and managerial roles as he has progressed to his current role. He is responsible for ensuring the successful delivery of all Static Systems’ projects from a holistic perspective, which includes overseeing, managing, and ensuring that the correct resources, procedures, and systems are in place for projects. He also oversees all health, safety, and environmental aspects of the business.
He says he is ‘passionate about ensuring that systems of all kinds do not simply meet industry standards, but rather that they also meet the end-client’s bespoke requirements’. For this reason, on the Royal Papworth Hospital project, he was particularly pleased to see the client working very closely with Static Systems’ in-house experts, as this ensured that the complex fire alarm and management system met the Trust’s specific needs, as well as standard legislative requirements.
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