In this regular column, Dr. Tom Brooks, Managing Director of Zzeus Training and President of the FSA, answers your fire safety questions. In this month’s issue, he takes a look at BS 5839-1 and whether it is safe to install heat detectors only in hotel bedrooms.
The current rules in BS 5839-1 for Class L2 fire detection and alarm systems in hotels state that you may use a heat detector in hotel rooms that open onto escape routes and smoke detectors in escape routes and corridors.
One of my clients (a risk assessor) was told that because the Fire Safety Order requires adequate protection for all persons involved, the current heat detectors in the bedrooms were incorrect and smoke detectors should be installed in all hotel bedrooms.
Is this correct?
This answer is two-part, so I will answer the first question here: Is it permissible to install heat detectors in hotel bedrooms?
The use of smoke detectors, which detect small particles, in hotel bedrooms is likely to increase false alarms. This can be caused by steam from bathrooms and kettles, aerosol sprays, cigarette smoke, and other items that guests may use.
More false alarms may lead to people not trusting the fire alarm system, which can cause delayed response to real alarms and lower fire safety standards.
Heat detectors in hotel bedrooms provide some protection for guests in the event of a fire. They alert hotel occupants long before a fire threatens any escape routes.
Fire statistics indicate that the probability of a fire in a hotel bedroom is very low (about one bedroom fire per million guest nights each year). There are almost no deaths in the room where the fire broke out, regardless of the type of detector used in the bedroom.
We, members of the BSI committee responsible for BS 5839-1, have received no evidence that the current recommendations for hotels need to be changed.
BS 5839-1 guidance on the use of heat detectors in hotel bedrooms has been confirmed by a specific decision of the Government Department of England and Wales (Chief Fire and Rescue Advisor).
This decision, called the “Decision Concerning the Adequacy of Fire Detection in a Hotel,” supports the use of heat detectors in the bedrooms of a particular hotel.
A link to the government’s decision has been included here, if you need to provide justification to a risk assessor who may not be fully aware of fire alarm categories: www.gov.uk/guidance/determations-under-the-fire-safety-order-determining adequacy of disclosure About fires in the hotel
However, determining what category a fire fighting system should be is often the job of a fire risk assessor.
So, play devil’s advocate a little bit, and pretend that this hotel specialized in individuals with mobility issues or disabilities, or perhaps it was used as a specialty respite hotel where their loved ones could go to a hotel that would give their partners a break from the daily care of the person who has this issue.
With the majority of occupants also likely to be elderly, most fire risk assessors will look to increase the early detection level to L1 because occupants may not be able to evacuate quickly in the event of a fire.
Do you have a question you want answered? Email your inquiries to: Tom@zzeus.org.uk
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