WATCH: Why fire sprinklers are so underrated

Sprinklers have long been an underrated tool in the active fire suppression armoury, Iain Cox, chair of the Business Sprinkler Alliance (BSA), tells FIREX TV in the video below.

Cox, who is also vice chair of the National Fire Sprinkler Network (NFSN), believes this is partly because they’ve been around so long they’re almost taken for granted.

But if the sprinkler’s basic design and operation has changed surprisingly little in more than a century, it’s mainly because they’re so effective.

Speaking outside the Sprinkler and Suppression Zone at FIREX 2019, Cox also challenges some of the myths that persist around sprinklers.

Cox was recently given FM Global’s second annual International Codes and Standards Advocacy Award for his efforts in championing the value of sprinklers. Said Thomas A Lawson, chairman and chief executive officer at the commercial property insurer: “We applaud Mr Cox for going above and beyond his duties to promote, educate, and advocate the use of automatic fire sprinklers in industrial and commercial properties in the UK.”

The Future of Fire Safety: download the eBook

Is the fire protection industry adapting to the post-Grenfell reality fast enough? At FIREX International 2019, Europe's only dedicated fire safety event, some of the world's leading fire safety experts covered this theme. This eBook covers the key insights from those discussions on the developments shaping the profession, with topics including:

Grenfell Inquiry must yield “bedrock change” – and soon
After Grenfell: Jonathan O’Neill OBE on how austerity and policy “on the hoof” are hampering progress
Hackitt’s Golden Thread: Fire, facilities and building safety
Fire safety community has to “get on board” with technological changes

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