Fire alarm systems in Residential Care Premises

Introduction

BS 5839-1 is generally the applicable standard for fire detection and fire alarm systems in non-residential buildings. Where BS 5839-1 makes specific recommendations for Residential Care Premises, it often links the recommendation as being applicable for Hospitals and Residential Care Premises. In both types of premises, it is assumed that there will be large numbers of people who are not able to evacuate the building in the event of fire, without assistance from staff.

In the case of hospitals, HTM 05-03 Part B is applicable for England and Wales and SHTM 82 for Scotland. Both of these documents should be used in conjunction with BS 5839-1 and the documents effectively override specific recommendations of BS 5839-1 where applicable

Where there is a requirement for the fire detection and alarm system to interface with other equipment or systems, BS 5839-1 refers the reader to the BS 7273 series of standards, to cover the recommendations for interfacing and in some instances applicable recommendations for the location and spacing of detectors and manual call points. BS 7273-4 is specifically relevant with respect to the control of doors, where special arrangements might be needed in residential care premises.

This paper makes reference to both BS 5839-1 and BS 7273-4, where applicable.

Premises with over 10 beds

BS 5839-1 does not generally prescribe a specific fire alarm system type based purely on building use or size. However, in larger residential care premises, the situation changes because occupants are unlikely to be able to evacuate without assistance. In these buildings, staff are expected to identify the location of a fire and take appropriate action before the arrival of the fire and rescue service, which places greater importance on the quality of information provided by the fire alarm system.

Where staff intervention forms part of the evacuation strategy, it is essential that the system provides clear and unambiguous indication of the location of a fire. The ability to identify the source quickly allows staff to move directly to the affected area, rather than carrying out a search, which can introduce delay and increase risk. In practice, this is most effectively achieved using an addressable fire alarm system, as it can identify the specific device in alarm rather than a wider zone.

The way in which information is presented is also important. Controls and displays need to be easily accessible and straightforward to interpret so that staff can act without hesitation. Where systems rely on additional interaction, or where staff are unfamiliar with the equipment, there is a risk that valuable time is lost. Experience has shown that delays in locating a fire can have serious consequences, particularly where vulnerable occupants depend on staff for evacuation.

Non-addressable systems can indicate a fire condition very quickly, but they generally only provide zonal information. While it is possible to improve accuracy through smaller zones or additional indicators, this requires careful design and can increase complexity and cost. Addressable systems provide more precise location information, and although they may introduce a small delay in signalling, this is insignificant in practice when compared with the time saved in locating the fire.

The reference to premises with more than 10 sleeping occupants should be understood in this context. It is not the bed count itself that determines the system type, but the point at which the building becomes large enough, and the level of dependency high enough, that assisted evacuation is required. At that stage, the need for clear and reliable fire location information becomes fundamental, and the system design should reflect this.

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ARC connection

In most cases with residential care premises, or hospitals, it is advantageous to patients’ well-being, to not evacuate them from the building in the case of a fire, or a false alarm.

Alerting staff of the fire, allows them to take immediate action to move patients at risk from the location of the fire, to a safer location that is reasonably near to the fire. The next priority, is to ensure that the FRS arrive as soon as possible to deal with the fire. In such situations time is critical.

Therefore, in the case of hospitals and residential care premises it is necessary to have an effect method of summoning the FRS. In the case of hospitals this might be via a connection to an ARC, or it might be by a telephone call over the public network. Hospitals will often have sufficient staff that one or more reception staff are able to make that call.

Many residential care premises, will be considerably smaller than a typical hospital and while such establishments may have reception staff, it is considered advantageous to use an automatic system to summons the FRS. This will generally be an automatic signalling system to an ARC and the ARC staff will then call the FRS over the public telephone system, to pass on the alarm message.

BS 5839-1 therefore recommends that an automatic connection to an ARC is provided in the case of a residential care premises.

In BS 5839-1, there are further recommendations to not delay the sending of the fire signal to the ARC, if the fire alarm system operates a staff alarm, even if the general alarm signal is delayed pending a local investigation.

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Staff Alarms

BS 5839-1:2017 clause 19 deals with Staged fire alarms - that is a system where it is determined that more than one stage is necessary for the fire alarm in the protected premises.

Clause 19.2.2 deals specifically with Staff Alarms and recommends that staff alarms should only be used where staff are sufficient in number and are fully trained in the action they should take in the event of fire.

19.2.2 b) allows the general alarm signal to be delayed in residential care premises, provided that all staff are made aware of the fire signal. It recommends that there is no delay in summoning the FRS.

This recommendation is based on coroner’s recommendations, where multiple deaths have occurred due, in part, to the delay in summoning the FRS. Therefore the recommendation in BS 5839-1 is that there should be no delay, giving the FRS the maximum amount of time available after the activation of the fire alarm system.

Staff alarms are generally activated in response to signals from automatic fire detectors, but not in response to signals from manual call points, heat detectors or sprinklers. Where it is considered necessary to activate a staff alarm in response to a signal from a manual call point, the person activating the call point, should not be left in doubt that the system has responded and this is usually achieved by the provision of a visual indicator on the call point, which activates immediately.

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Activation of door release mechanisms

Held open fire doors and electronically locked security doors, are generally released in the event of the activation of the fire alarm.  In the case of residential care premises, there is a need to consider the potentially conflicting requirements of accessibility, safety and security.

Fire doors are generally held open for convenience or accessibility, but in the event of fire, they are released to close, to restrict the potential movement of smoke. This would normally be done immediately smoke is detected, rather than to wait for the fire signal to be confirmed, to ensure that the risk of smoke spread is minimised.

In residential care premises where frail or elderly occupants may be present, there is a risk that the occupants might be injured by the closing door. In such situations there may be a need to use a warning signal, in the event of testing the door mechanisms and not delaying the general fire alarm, so as to provide audible warning that the doors are closing.

Where the self-closing mechanism might hinder accessibility, it may be necessary to consider a powered door opening mechanism, particularly on bedroom doors, or doors leading onto a common escape route.

In the case of electrically locked security doors, they are generally released (unlocked) in the event of fire, or using a manual control. Typically red manual call points are provided adjacent to exit doors to activate the fire alarm and release the doors via the fire alarm system; whereas, green manual call points are provided to unlock the doors without the activation of the fire alarm. A push button would be provided to unlock the door momentarily.

Where patients suffering from dementia, might be exposed to risk of harm from falling down stairs, or leaving the premises without appropriate supervision, BS 7273-4 allows the door release controls to be mounted at a high level, where they would be less obvious to the patients. The normally recommended mounting height is 1.2m above the floor.

There is still a necessity to comply with safety from fire regulations, so the locked doors would be required to release on the activation of the fire alarm, but there might then need to be staff procedures to ensure that patients remain safe while the fire is investigated. A security alarm signal on the opening of a final exit door might assist in this, i.e. the release of the door lock is activated by the fire alarm signal, but the door is mechanically held closed by a door closure mechanism and the security alarm activates if the door is opened in the fire condition.

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