BSEE BUILDING CONTROLS & FIRE SAFETY
Adversing: 01622 699116
MINIMISING FALSE ALARMS Gain control of flre safety systems
Ian Ellis, of
Siemens Building Technologies, discusses the costs and implicaons of false fire alarms, explaining how intelligent fire alarm systems can help minimise disrupon to business connuity.
continue to develop products to meet the demands of modern buildings. A range of fire safety plans need to be considered in order to meet the varying types of fire emergency situations, including false fire alarms. According to the government’s Office of National Statistics, fire and rescue services (FRSs) attended 222,997 fire false alarms in the year ending September 2017. The Fire Industry Association (FIA) estimates that false alarms cost the UK economy more than £1bn a year.
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When a false fire alarm goes off a signal is automatically sent to the FRS, usually resulting in wasted time, fuel and human resources. This could have potentially disastrous consequences if the FRS is unable to attend a genuine emergency.
If a building has to be evacuated every time a false alarm goes off, downtime could impact on the business. Regular false alarms can lead to apathy as staff could dismiss a genuine emergency as just another false alarm, potentially placing themselves in danger.
Such complacency towards a building’s safety will create a negative image for a business, especially for something like a supermarket or a hotel whose customers will be inconvenienced by having to leave the building unnecessarily. Repeated call outs for false alarms can also result in fines and the risk of prosecution. Fire false alarms attended are categorised as: u where there was good intent but no fire; u where apparatus such as fire alarms caused an attendance to a false alarm; and u malicious calls.
uFalse flre alarms not only cause inconvenience to customers, they can result in loss of earnings for businesses.
False fire alarms can be caused by a range of things that do not usually warrant a FRS response. These include cooking fumes (e.g. burning toast), hot steam, aerosol sprays, excessive dust, humidity and temperature changes. In the 21st century a collective effort
ire alarm systems are an important aspect of a building’s safety.
Technology, however, is evolving rapidly and manufacturers must
is required in order to keep false alarms to an absolute minimum. Building owners, landlords and facilities managers must take responsibility to ensure their building is equipped with a modern, reliable fire protection system. It is important that they heed advice from a qualified fire risk assessor, whose responsibility it is to provide recommendations on fire systems as well as the building’s overall fire safety.
Contractors responsible for installing the fire system should be adequately trained as a poorly fitted system will not perform the job it was intended for to its true potential.
Ultimately, though, it is the manufacturers that have the latest technology at their fingertips who must develop the fire systems suitable for the 21st century. With the Internet of Things (IoT), building controls and predictive monitoring at our disposal, fire detection technology has a huge role to play in lowering the number false alarm incidents.
The evolution of intelligent buildings allows facilities managers to have much more control over the way their building functions. It is estimated that there will be around 30 billion networked appliances and sensors by 2020, while analyst firm ABI Research predicts that by 2020 more than eight million building management systems (BMS) will have been implemented worldwide with some form of IoT hosted in the form of technology, applications or services.
Deceptive phenomena
Modern buildings already control the vast majority of systems, such as lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, through their Building Management System (BMS), and the same level of control can be applied to fire safety systems. An intelligent fire safety system offers businesses a fast and highly reliable detection response. Being immune to deceptive phenomena such as steam, dust or gas, these systems can help prevent unnecessary downtime and minimise costs resulting from false alarms. Three key elements are at the core of a comprehensive fire safety solution: u Early and reliable fire detection; u Clear and fast alarming and evacuation processes; u Intelligent extinguishing tailored to each room‘s requirements. Only if all of these are present can you be assured that the people in your building are safe and your assets and business processes are protected. Different buildings with different uses will come with varying detection challenges, but by taking certain measures and following appropriate processes and procedures an effective solution can be implemented.
An intelligent fire detection device uses extensive fire-test derived intelligence to evaluate environmental conditions. It can discriminate between a real fire and the sometimes similar input from cigarette smoke, dust, welding, or other
deceptive conditions. Detection equipment should be installed and
16 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER MAY 2018
maintained avoiding the transfer of smoke and fumes (e.g. from kitchens) and protection covers provided for alarm buttons.
Providing staff training and guidelines for external personnel will ensure everybody who uses the building is familiar with how the fire system operates, and contracts should be established with competent suppliers to regularly inspect, service, adjust and upgrade the detection system when required.
Regular inspection and servicing, coupled with regular upgrades, provide the best possible immunity to false alarms. Regular upgrading and modernisation of systems is able to bring down false alarm rates through the ability of current detection technology to be more selective. The use of higher performing components and microprocessors, along with complex analysis methodologies, means that fire systems are more resistant to deceptive phenomena and capable of differentiating between threatening and non-threatening events. Siemens Building Technologies, for example, uses the unique Advanced Signal Analysis (ASA) technology- based detectors to split the signals they receive into their components, which are then compared in real time against predefined values using complex algorithms. These parameter sets can be precisely adjusted to the expected environmental conditions, taking into account specific local risks and possible interferences such as dust or welding fumes, minimising the incidence of false alarms. The issues surrounding false alarms discussed in this article help reassert the importance of selecting a smoke detection system that can minimise costs, secure business processes and ensure safety and protection without false alarms.
A fire safety system is a valuable asset in a commercial building, therefore it is vital to select a fire detection system for your building which provides maximum reliability and minimises the substantial disturbance of false alarms to the business and its end users.
www.siemens.com VISIT OUR WEBSITE:
www.bsee.co.uk
uFalse flre alarms can be caused by a range of things including cigarees, cooking fumes, hot steam, aerosol sprays, excessive dust, humidity and temperature changes.
‘
Modern
buildings already control the vast majority of systems, such as lighng, heang, venlaon and air condioning, through their Building Management System (BMS), and the same level of control can be applied to fire safety systems. An intelligent fire safety system oers businesses a fast and highly reliable detecon response.
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