False alarms from automatic fire detection systems
are a major problem and result in many
unwanted calls to the fire and rescue service
every year. Guidance on reducing false alarms
has been published by ODPM/CFOA/BFPSA.15
If there are excessive false alarms in your
premises, people may become complacent and
not respond correctly to a warning of a real
fire. In such circumstances, you may be failing
to comply with fire safety law. All false alarms
should be investigated to identify the cause of
the problem and remedial action taken.
To help reduce the number of false alarms,
the system design and location of detection and
activation devices should be reviewed against
the way the premises are currently used. For
example, if a store room has been converted
to a staff area with cooking facilities (e.g. a
microwave and toaster) then the likelihood of
the detector being set off is increased. Similarly,
if a manual call point is placed in a storage
area where there is continual movement of
goods, the call point is likely to be accidentally
damaged. In this case a simple, fabricated hinged
metal guard around the call point is likely to
solve the problem.
Occasionally people set off a manual call point
in the genuine, but incorrect belief that there is
a fire. Nothing should be done to discourage
such actions and the number of false alarms
generated this way is not significant.
Further detailed guidance on reducing false
alarms is available in BS 5839-1.1