Let’s face it – everyone hates false fire alarms. While we could give you the usual ‘preventative maintenance’ pitch as a means to reduce unexpected activations – the truth is that alarms can get set off all the time for a whole range of totally unexpected and random things – all of which can be disruptive to your day – whether that’s in your home or at your place of work.
Today, we’re going to break down what you or a licensed professional can do to make sure that you greatly reduce the risk of any unwanted fire alarms or activations in the future.
Keeping Activations to a Minimum
Make sure that your pull stations are all clearly labeled and located where they’re A.) easy to get to and B.) where there’s no chance they might get accidentally pulled. Location of your alarms is paramount in the event you need them – but there is such a thing as being accessible without being an obstruction. There are protective pieces you can put over the alarms to make sure accidental alarm trips don’t happen, so ask your fire safety pro about them and whether they make sense to install.
Location and Other Possible Issues
There are a whole bevy of potential issues in a given room for a fire alarm system – so many that it’s easy to overlook them. Is your smoke detector too close to your HVAC system? What about smoke detectors in the laundry room? Is your pull station parked next to a bay door? Be on the lookout for any and all factors that could potentially result in a false fire alarm because the chances are that at some point – they may trip it.
Like we said above – this is a tricky one – because accessibility trumps everything – but most spaces should provide a friendly enough layout where your fire alarm is easy to get to without being stuck next to some sort of element that could set them off accidentally.
Special Concerns for Industrial Spaces
In any high-energy locale – like a factory or industrial setting – power surges can be a constant worry – not just for production and equipment malfunctions – but for alarms as well. Power surges are mostly just a cost of doing business – but the wrong one can set your alarm off and especially when you’re in a high-risk industrial setting, that false alarm can cause more than just a little stir. Make sure you have industrial-grade surge protectors in place to make sure you don’t have to deal with this issue- but even more specifically – have surge protectors installed with your alarms.
In addition to protecting against electrical surges, you should also have proper ventilation in place as certain chemicals can mix with other chemicals and cause an overreaction in your system. The same goes for any space where there’s a lot of steam, vapors, and the like. Be sure to talk to a professional and identify the kinds of detectors that will be able to help you in this situation should it ever arise.
If you have a question about this or any other fire protection topic, please contact Protegis Fire & Safety.
