Fire alarm system at the workplace

The assurance that your workplace has a fire alarm gives peace of mind, and makes a healthy and conducive working environment. Having a fire alarm in the workplace makes your employees and visitors comfortable, and thus, the business will be smooth and worry-free. The people in the workplace are easily alerted even before fire breaks out. Having a fire alarm increases greatly the possibility to put out the fire, before it gets too large to be extinguished. Otherwise, the people in the area will be given an ample time to escape.

When it comes to an investment in the health and safety of you and your staff, a fire alarm is a must. Not only is the system protecting you, but it is also, protecting your assets.

If you are concerned about the amount of disruption that may be caused by the installation of a fire alarm system, why not consider a wireless fire alarm? A wireless fire alarm is quick and easy to install, and is a viable cost effective option.

Fire systems ltd, specialise in the design, installation and commission of all types of wireless fire alarms.

Why should I consider installing a fire alarm?

A fire alarm could be one of the most important investments you make.

Do not let fire be one of the worries of your business. Business premises must have in them complete fire safety equipment installed. Having extinguishers, fire safety boxes, and fire blankets in the workplace is not enough. Along with these indispensable safety equipments is the fire alarm. Why is this fire alarm system necessary in making the workplace optimally safe? Why should this tool be installed in every workplace?

The most devastating accident that can befall a business is not bankruptcy. Rather, it is a fire incident. How disrupting it is for a business to replace very important things lost from a fire. The effected business will have to spend a lot of time and effort to do so. Worse, some business properties, such as essential data, can never be replaced once lost. And how horrifying can it be for a business to have to deal with the ordeal of losing an employee in a fire outbreak? This is why every workplace must have fire alarm, especially in the locations which has the highest probability to cause fire.

Fire alarm company, Fire Systems Ltd, specialise in the installation of wireless fire alarm systems. If you require a new or an upgrade of your existing fire alarm system, why not let them survey and show you the latest in their range of wireless fire alarm systems.

Fire Alarm Maintenance

Fire Systems Ltd, provide fire alarm maintenance.

You may ask what are the benefits?

A fire alarm maintenance gives you Peace of Mind

You depend on your fire alarm system to provide the earliest possible warning of a fire for your staff and visitors. The earlier the warning, the more time you have to leave the building safely.

The fire alarm has been installed to protect life, as well as property and will, when required, be expected to operate correctly in an emergency. So it makes sense that your fire alarm system is kept in optimum condition, with 24 hour emergency cover that you can always count on if it is needed.

A fire alarm maintenance saves you money.

Regular servicing will also ensure the maximum component life and result in lower system downtime. You will also save money by avoiding non-contracted hourly rates.

A fire alarm maintenance ensure you are compliant

With British Standards, Fire Legislation and your insurance company requirements.

A fire alarm maintenance reduces false alarms

Reduce the risk of false fire alarm activations, which can save money and business disruption, as well as protecting your response levels from the emergency service, who may not attend your premises if you have a high number of false alarms.

Addressable fire alarm systems

Analogue addressable fire alarm systems overcome the limitations of conventional fire systems, where each fire detecting sensor or call point is electronically coded with a unique identification or 'address' which is programmed into the device during fire alarm installation. The control panel is then able to conduct two way communication with any of the addressable fire alarm devices connected to the fire alarm system by using the unique address number to define which device it wishes to communicate with. Under normal conditions the fire control panel continuously interrogates each device in sequence using a low power digitally pulsed signal, and analyses the reply to determine the status of the sensor or callpoint. In this manner, the fire alarm system panel can ascertain whether each device is functioning correctly and also discover the amount of smoke or heat that the device is currently sensing.

This technology allows the fire alarm panel to make intelligent decisions as to the appropriate action to take based on the information it receives from the individual sensors. In addition to providing simplified installation, enhanced suppression of unwanted alarms and precise location of any incidents, analogue technology also allows greater control of the response of the fire system to a fire alarm being triggered. Analogue addressable fire alarm can be interfaced with building management systems, and can also be used to interact with other services such as ventilation or warden call systems. For the largest sites, several systems can be linked to form a complete network providing total coverage

Cooper finally release wireless fire alarm panel

At long last Cooper has finally released it’s long awaiting wireless fire alarm panel

For both business and leisure wireless technology is now common place. Such are the advances made in wireless technologies in recent years that most people use wireless devices without a second thought.

Using the new Cooper wireless fire alarm panel, with protocol the CW9000 provides a fire alarm system using secure wireless connections between the field fire detection and the fire control panels.

Based on well proven components the sensors, sounders, beacons and call points give CW9000 wireless fire alarm a highly reliable foundation into which the wireless technology has been integrated to provide a fully featured analogue addressable fire detection and fire alarm system.

The development of CW9000 has tracked the progress of the European standard EN54-25 "Fire detection and fire alarm systems. Components using radio links", and has therefore been designed to conform fully with all aspects of this document.

Benefits and Features

• Addressable 250 device system
• Range greater than 1km in free air
• Low profile aesthetics
• Touch screen technology
• Soft addressing
• Meets the requirements of EN54-25

Kentec’s new fire alarm panel

Faster set-up time” for two-wire fire alarm panels

Kentec’s new AlarmSense two-wire fire alarm system, takes less time to set up than a standard four-wire fire system, the company has said.

Kentec's two-wire fire alarm panel

In a press release about its new product, Kentec said the benefit of its two-wire fire alarm panels was that “all devices in a given zone can be wired to the same pair of cables”.

The AlarmSense Sigma CP-A 2, 4 and 8 zone fire alarm control and indicating panels are also compliant with European standards, according to Kentec.

Fire alarm company, Fire Systems Ltd, who have a good relationship with Kectec, will be trying out the new fire system. Fire alarm maintenance and one man testing is also an important feature.

A spokesman for the fire detection company said: “Apollo Alarmsense devices, including smoke and heat detectors, call points, base sounders, base sounder, beacons and relay units, can all be wired to the same pair of cables, with rapid system configuration for common, zonal or two-stage fire alarm using simple menu options on the fire alarm panel.

“False alarm management is particularly efficient, with alarm verification via the general and local alarm facility on AlarmSense sounders and beacons, a significant feature for houses of multiple occupation.”

This type of fire system, could save a fire alarm company time when setting up the system.

For more information on fire alarm maintenance and installation, you can contact fire systems ltd on www.firesystems.co.uk.

Visual alarms on fire alarms continue

We are continuing once again from the previously blog on the visual units on fire alarm systems.

The introduction of a mandated harmonised standard sets a base level for product performance. Fire alarm system engineers can therefore be reassured that when approved fire alarm equipment such as strobes are installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations, they will provide the defined level of illumination in the protected premises. Under the specification, manufacturers have to classify their products as C, ceiling mounted; W, wall mounted; or O, open class devices. In a fire alarm system, both C and W devices will be the primary types used, with some specialised applications having type O devices as well. The C class units often taking the form of a detector base sounder-strobe, fitted between the fire detection in the form of a multi-sensor, smoke or heat detector and its base. W class devices will be either stand-alone strobes or combined sounder-strobes. The key performance indicators are that the output of the device must be greater than 2 candela (cd) and less than 500cd, and the flash rate must be between 0.5 and 2.0Hz.

Ceiling-mounted strobe coverage

The critical requirement from a fire detection manufacturer’s point of view is that each model must be tested to demonstrate compliance with the standard’s requirements. For ceiling-mounted fire alarm devices, the manufacturer must define the maximum height at which it can be installed, set at a standard 3m, 6m or 9m. A wall-mounted fire alarm system device must be installed at a minimum of 2.4m from the floor. The coverage volume, defined by the manufacturer, in which the output meets the minimum required illumination of 0.4 lumens/m² (lux) on a surface perpendicular to the direction of the light emitted from the device is the key performance measure.

Wall-mounted strobe coverage

Further relevant documents are BS 8300, which concerns the design of buildings to meet the needs of disabled people, and LPS1652, Code of Practice for Visual Alarm Devices used for Fire Warning, currently at Draft 1.0 status and published by LPCB.

Visual alarms on fire alarm systems

Continuing from our last blog on visual units on fire alarm systems.

The product standard EN54-23: Fire alarm devices – Visual alarms defines the performance requirement of visual alarm devices on a fire alarm, was published by BSI in June 2010. Typically, for fire detection and fire alarm product standards produced to satisfy the EU Construction Products Directive (Harmonised Standards), there is a 36-month transition period from the time the standard becomes available to national standards bodies.

In the case of EN54-23, the date by which national conflicting standards must be withdrawn is March 2013.

At the end of this transition period products which do not satisfy the harmonised standard (indicated by a CE Mark), will no longer be able to be put on the European market.

The standard specifies the requirements, test methods and performance criteria for visual fire alarm devices in a fixed fire alarm installation, intended to signal a visual warning of a fire initiated by the fire detection and fire alarm system. It covers only those devices that derive their operating power by means of a physical electrical connection to an external source, such as a fire alarm system, and it applies only to pulsing or flashing visual alarm devices – for example Xenon or rotating beacons and devices that rely on software for their operation.

All change for visual fire alarms

 The recent publication of EN54-23, the new product standard for visual indication on fire alarms, presents a challenge to the way in which these devices are made and installed. Will Mason of Fire Systems Ltd explains.

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) makes service providers and employers responsible for ensuring that disabled people do not receive less favourable treatment than the able bodied. Since its introduction, the fire alarm industry has responded by providing fire alarm systems that generate both audible and visual warnings when a fire is detected.

A Fire alarm company, now has to take the above into consideration, whether it be a wired or a wireless fire alarm.

Normally, a visual alarm is only used in a fire alarm system to reinforce a warning from the primary audible warning device such as a bell, siren or voice alarm but it is never the primary method of raising the alarm. However, in a building in which deaf and hard of hearing people are present, a risk assessment may indicate that a visual alarm will have to become as important as the normal audible alarm in attracting their attention. In such cases, the strobe units or beacons must produce a sufficiently high light output to achieve the objective.

A typical beacon installation in a factory

By definition, as a life safety industry, anything that improves the effectiveness of an automatic fire alarm system is an advance to be welcomed, particularly if it provides enhanced protection for all occupants of the protected building. Until now, however, there has been no product standard specifying the performance requirements of visual alarm devices..

For further information you can contact a London based fire alarm company Fire Systems Ltd, who also specialise in wireless fire alarms.

Fire Alarm System components

The reliability of the fire alarm system to perform its functions on demand will, to a significant degree, be governed by the reliability of individual components. In general, it is advisable that all fire alarm components, such as manual call points, fire detection, fire panel and indicating equipment and fire alarm devices, comply with relevant
British Standards, and have undergone type testing to these standards. It is advisable to use components having fire alarm certification under a recognized product certification scheme (comprising third-party certification of product conformity against a relevant standard, based on testing and continuing surveillance, together with assessment of the manufacturer’s quality assurance systems against BS EN ISO 9000).
Where there is no relevant British, European or International Standard, it is advisable that care is taken to ensure, as far as possible, that the fire alarm components, fire alarm panel and fire detection,are fit for their purpose. Third-party approval against an appropriate test standard may provide assurance of this.
Compliance of an individual component with a recognized standard does not necessarily ensure that it will
operate satisfactorily in conjunction with another component that complies with the relevant standard for
that component. It is essential that compatibility between components is taken into account by the designer of the fire system.