Similar to the Scottish policy announced in the summer, the London Fire Brigade has released a change in their policy to automatic fire alarms in commercial buildings.
Starting in October, the London Fire Brigade is reducing the amount of time and resources spent going to unwanted fire signals.
Automatic Fire Alarm calls
Unless they receive a call reporting a confirmed fire, the fire service will stop automatically attending callouts between 7 am and 8:30 pm in buildings such as office blocks and industrial estates.
Of the 52,000 Automatic Fire Alarm calls attended in 2023/24, less than one percent of calls were ultimately recorded as fires, meaning the vast majority were false alarms.
false alarm callouts
99% of calls being false alarms is a massive waste of resources and time for the emergency services
99% of calls being false alarms is a massive waste of resources and time for the emergency services, taking their priority away from saving lives.
By reducing time and resources wasted on false fire alarms, the fire brigade can put their services to better use and free Firefighters to attend real emergencies.
Not only do false alarm callouts drain resources and waste precious time and money, but they can also lead to complacency and have costs associated with the business in which the false alarm takes place.
Repeated false alarms
Repeated false alarms cause alarm fatigue, which can be fatal to life if people do not respond in genuine emergencies because their sense of urgency is critically lowered.
Successfully reducing false alarms will reduce unwanted fire alarm signals, leading to fewer disruptions for businesses and eliminating unnecessary risk to the public and fire crews when they travel at high speed to attend ‘emergency’ calls.
protecting manual call points
It is still vital to take other measures to reduce false alarms and protect manual call points
The new policy, however, only applies to commercial buildings, meaning schools, residential buildings, and many other types are exempt. It also only applies during daytime hours at residences where no one sleeps.
Therefore, it is still vital to take other measures to reduce false alarms and protect manual call points from any unwanted use or accidental damage.
protective covers
STI’s protective covers have been specifically designed to help deter false alarms and to prevent vandalism or accidental activation of manual call points.
The strong, durable construction of the polycarbonate call point protectors means they can withstand the toughest knocks, while offering lasting protection against false alarms in a variety of situations.
