Would simply shouting 'fire' be enough to protect your business from a blaze?

Remember to test your fire alarm system weekly to ensure that it works as intended when you need it

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires premises to be equipped with appropriate fire detectors and alarms - so what is considered “appropriate?”

That depends upon the type of premises and the activities that take place there, but what does it mean for your premises? 

Fire warning can range from somebody simply shouting “fire” to a sophisticated system incorporating automatic fire detection covering all areas of the building. The former may be suitable for a small single storey premises such as a shop where the entire premises, including exits, are visible from any location within it. The latter can normally be found in higher risk premises where the earliest possible warning is required to ensure the safety of occupants, such as a care home. 

What is suitable depends on the level of risk. For example, sleeping always increases the risk, as occupants will not discover a fire with their own senses when asleep. As a result, earlier warning, than that provided by manually raising the alarm, is necessary. Therefore, premises where people sleep should always be fitted with automatic fire detection. Where occupants are deemed to be particularly vulnerable and need more time to escape, an increased level of automatic fire detection is required to facilitate this.

In premises where all occupants are awake on the other hand, the risk can be lower and a manual system consisting of manual call points to raise the alarm may suffice. There may however be other risk factors that must be accounted for by installing automatic fire detection, for example lone working or the existence of areas where a fire could spread quickly and undetected. 

In addition to making sure that a fire is detected, the alarm system should ensure that all occupants become aware of it. To achieve this, the signal must be loud enough to be heard by everyone on the premises, which means placing sounders in appropriate locations and ensuring that the sound level is higher than that produced by the noise normally present on the premises. If anyone with impaired hearing is likely to be on the premises, you may need to provide visual or tactile alarm devices as well.

Remember to test your fire alarm system weekly to ensure that it works as intended when you need it and record the results in a Fire Logbook. Consult with your fire risk assessor if you are unsure about whether the fire alarm system on your premises is suitable.