Plastic products as the sole means of cable support should be abandoned by the electrical industry in the wake of the deadly Shirley Towers fires of 2010.
The deaths of firefighters James Shears and Alan Bannon were “a tragedy waiting to happen” and were caused as “a direct result” of the use of plastic cable supports.
This is the (somewhat unsurprising, but valid nonetheless) view of Richard Shaw, managing director of cable clear manufacturer Ellis.
Shaw made his comments in an article last month where he called on the electrics industry to learn the lessons of the firefighters’ deaths and that of another firefighter, Jess Wornham, who died in similar circumstances in 2005.
The recommendations following Wornham’s death called for fire alarm cable supports to be capable of withstanding the same temperatures as the cables they are supporting.
Shaw said:
In effect, this recommendation precluded the use of plastic cable clips, cable ties or trunking, where these products are the sole means of cable support.
But Shaw sees this recommendation as a missed opportunity, and thinks that that verdict should have gone further.
Indeed, the inquest into the deaths of the two Shirley Towers firefighters did exactly that, calling for an amendment to building regulations to “ensure that all cables, not just fire alarm cables, are supported by fire-resistant cable supports.”
Shaw added:
As an industry with the responsibility for creating the means of distributing electricity around homes and offices we need to ensure every possible safety precaution is taken and put simply plastic cable supports are not safe.
Three young men have died as a direct result of their use and we as an industry need to act now to stop this from happening again.
The regulations referring to electric cables and other requirements of electrical installations, BS 7671, were last updated in 2008. Despite a gap of 17 years between the 16th and 17th editions’ publication, the 18th edition of the IEE wiring regulations is rumoured to be coming towards the end of 2013.
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Using purely plastic clips to support the cables of a fire alarm system should quite rightly be stopped. It clearly makes sense for the cable supports to have the same resistance to fire as the cables themselves. Our engineers use saddle clips with a metal core, steel tie wraps and steel banding to safely secure all cabling.
Using purely plastic clips to support the cables of a fire alarm system should quite rightly be stopped. It clearly makes sense for the cable supports to have the same resistance to fire as the cables themselves. Our engineers use saddle clips with a metal core, steel tie wraps and steel banding to safely secure all cabling.