Reasons, Why Schools Must Have Fire Safety Equipment?

Schools are usually large buildings that witness chunks of people moving in and out throughout the day, including children, teachers, support staff, and visitors. For their safety, it is essential to have well-maintained fire safety equipment in the right areas to handle emergency situations effectively.

In order to keep students safe, it is imperative that they know how to react in case of fire. This includes completing drills and procedures on the use of safety equipment like fire extinguishers, exit signs, and safety gear, and understanding which door should be used when there's smoke inside the building.

Recognize and Eliminate Fire Risks:

Enclosed spaces such as chemistry labs can be at risk in school settings. Chemicals and flammable desks can be dangerous and prone to fire breakout. The same applies to technology workshops with all sawdust and heavy machinery. Computer labs are also a higher risk due to the chance of an electrical fire starting from overloading the circuits or servers. Carrying out fire safety checks in these areas and investing in fire safety equipment to prevent fire breakout is crucial.

Types of Fire Safety Equipment that School Premises Must Invest in:

• Fire Extinguisher
• Fire Sprinklers
• Fire Hydrant Cabinet
• Fire Blankets
• Safety Jacket (Safety gear)
• Dry Powder Fire Extinguisher

Victorian Fire Protection (VFP) is a leading provider of fire equipment services. VFP provides essential fire safety/protection plans and fire solutions through a range of safety equipment to the industry and wider community in Australia. For more information, call us on 1300 974 877.

Source: Reasons, Why Schools Must Have Fire Safety Equipment?

The Importance Of Fire Sprinkler Maintenance

 Fire sprinkler systems are important for buildings because they can revert fires before it is too late. An improperly calibrated or miswired system may cause a lot more damage than expected, while detailed annual inspections will reveal any problems that weekly or quarterly ones do not.

With an annual inspection, you can find out things that weekly and quarterly inspections don’t. For example, there might be corrosion in your sprinkler system or a problem with one of its components deep inside the pipes where water comes from.

Read through the following points for fire sprinkler systems:

Non-electronic Control Valves

Building owners should check non-electric control valves weekly to ensure they are open. A test could be performed during the annual full sprinkler system inspection if your building has electronic options.

The best way to protect your building against fires is by ensuring that the valves are open and operating properly. Building owners should check weekly, if not more often, depending on their routine maintenance schedule for these critical pieces of equipment that control water flow throughout an entire sprinkler system installation or just specific areas within it like hallways.

If you find any issues with them, you can fix them with help of the professionals, and improve your changes to handle emergencies more efficiently.

 

Coatings on Sprinkler Heads

Sprinkler heads can gather a coating of dirt and grime over time that temporarily restricts water flow from the heads. The best way to address the issue is to remove them with a non-residue and corrosion-resistant degreasing solution that won’t leave behind any residue or damage when applied properly.

 

Water Pressure

When it comes to your sprinklers, you need a sufficient amount of water pressure for them to work properly. This means that if one or more faucets are turned off, this could impact the performance and efficiency when operating under different pressures throughout their system, so quarterly checks will ensure there are no issues with hydrometer testing.

 

Victorian Fire Protection is a leading provider of fire equipment services. VFP provides essential fire safety/protection plans and fire solutions through a range of safety equipment to the industry and wider community in Australia. For more information, call us on 1300 974 877 or visit our website today!

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Be Alert, Avert Fire With Smoke Alarms

 Yes, we agree smoke alarms are not at all interesting but no one can deny their importance. Installation of the smoke alarm in both commercial and residential buildings is important. Smoke Alarms provide early warning thus giving the chance to escape in case of a fire. Whether you are sleeping peacefully in your home or having a smooth day at the office, a fire warning will let you save yourself, your family and your employees.

Today in most Australian states, it is obligatory to install working smoke alarms. According to the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, a whopping 57% of people are more likely to suffer property loss and damage, 26% to suffer serious injuries and 4 times more like to die if there is a fire in a building that does not have a working smoke alarm. A smoke alarm gives a chance to fight before everything gets burnt to little fragments.

Types of Smoke Alarm

• • Ionisation Smoke Alarms – Ionisation smoke alarms are those smoke alarms that quickly detect invisible smoke by fast flaming fires. Fires that occur while cooking or through a flammable liquid and even paper are detected by this alarm. Ionisation alarms alarm when the ion flow in the detection chamber is affected by smoke particles.

• Photoelectric Smoke Alarms – Photoelectric smoke alarms get triggered when smoke particles enter the light path in the detection chamber. These alarms use optical detection and are most responsive to slow, smouldering fires that occur at home while you sleep.

Australian Standards for Smoke Alarm

 Australian Standard AS 3786:2014 Smoke Alarms – Australian Government needs to be followed by manufacturer or smoke alarm designer. This standard applies to smoke alarms intended for installation within residential accommodation where connection to fire control stations is not required.

This standard specifies requirements for the design and performance of electrically operated smoke alarms containing both detection and alarm facilities. (Reference – https://ablis.business.gov.au/service/ag/australian-standard-as-3786-2014-smoke-alarms/3103)

 

If you are replacing a smoke alarm after January 2017, then must be of a photoelectric type which complies with Australian Standard (AS) 3786-2014.

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Existing smoke alarms manufactured more than ten years ago must be replaced. (Note: Smoke alarms should have the date of manufacture stamped on them.) Smoke alarms that do not operate when tested must be replaced immediately. Existing hardwired smoke alarms that need replacement must be replaced with a hardwired smoke alarm. (Reference – https://www.qfes.qld.gov.au/community-safety/smokealarms/documents/New-Smoke-Alarm-Legislation.pdf)

 

If your smoke alarms do not comply with the legislation you could shell out dollars paying penalty for the same. At Victorian Fire Protection we provide you with high-quality smoke alarms. You can read about the features of our smoke alarm www.vfp.com.au/product/smoke-alarm or call us on 1300 974 877