FIA’s False Fire Alarm Campaign Highlighting Cost

The Fire Industry Association (FIA) has renewed the fervour behind its campaign to limit the number of false fire alarms, about which businesses have tended to be complacent.

In an article last week exploring the human and financial cost of false alarms, the FIA has set out some of the key reasons good fire alarm system maintenance and management is vital to ensuring that alarms are taken seriously.

The Cut False Alarm Costs campaign is aimed at educating firms on proper management of fire alarm and detection systems. False alarms cost UK fire services millions of pounds every year.

Cleveland Fire and Rescue service, for instance, responded to more than 28,000 false alarm incidents, costing taxpayers around GB pound 11 million. This at a time when Cleveland FRS is facing budget cuts of almost 30 percent over the next four years — cuts that would mean a shortfall of approximately GB pound 3.4 million over the next two years. Without those false alarm costs, this particular fire service would actually have a budget surplus.

In the article cited above, the FIA observed:

The campaign highlights how it is in the best interests of businesses to ensure fire alarms only go off in the event of a real incident or a test, with a loss of productivity among staff among the key pitfalls of failing to do so. On top of this, increased insurance premiums and a possible future charging for attendance by fire and rescue services add in a financial cost.

Cleveland FRS also underlined how its trading company, Cleveland Fire Brigade Risk Management Services CIC, which is a community interest company, was growing from strength to strength to supplement the service’s budget.

This may be a worry to recession-hit fire safety businesses in the Cleveland area and beyond, where fire services are now a new source of competition. There is apprehension in the fire industry that many will struggle to compete with risk management services offered by UK fire services.

Simon Ince of Warrington Certification Ltd. wrote on IFSEC Global about the unfair market advantage that a preferred supplier of fire risk management services, BRS, was receiving.

Fines for automatic fire alarms

Last year, the London Fire Brigade revealed that it was considering fining owners of automatic fire alarms in a move that would cost the worst offenders a total of over GB pound 1 million.

Under the plans, building owners would be fined at least GB pound 290 per responding fire engine for any false alarm.

Chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, James Cleverly, said:

A fire engine is called out to a false alarm from an automatic system every 12 minutes in London, which is an absurd waste of time, money and resources, especially in this time of financial uncertainty.

Firefighters ought to be available to attend genuine emergencies or carry out training or community fire safety work, rather than attending thousands of false alarms.

Often false alarms are caused by poor management or maintenance of alarm systems. Our proposals to charge should send a clear message that building owners need to sort their fire alarms out or face hefty charges.

Advice from fire and rescue services is clear on the matter of reducing false alarm incidents. Manchester FRS is among many that issue the following advice:

• Ensure your fire risk assessment is up to date.
• Your fire alarm and detection system should be properly designed, installed, and maintained.
• You should appoint a dedicated person (or people) to maintain your alarm system.
• Fire alarm procedures should include a designated person (or people) to confirm whether a fire is genuine.
• Record details of false alarms in a fire alarm log book, and undertake steps to ensure that mistakes are not repeated.