UFAS in the SFRS Dougie Barnett - BAFE Chairman Martin Harvey - FIA Chairman David McGown - DACO, SFRS

UFAS activity Historical demand – 2013/14: Over 47,000 fire related false alarms in SFRS 75% ‘due to apparatus’ Approximately 2% were fires – Approximately 56% of all calls received are false alarms Cost to business – Estimate of £1 billion / year in the UK – Disruption to business & production Impact on SFRS – Revenue costs – Impact on time spent on prevention, training, true emergencies, etc – Increased road risk THE UK’s NATIONAL FIRE SAFETY ORGANISATION Protecting people, property, business and the environment Tweet your questions to #FSS15

Project implementation Remit, scope – To provide an in-depth investigation and analysis on causes of UFAS within City of Glasgow, and identify approaches to reduce occurrences – Definition: unwanted alarm signals Who – FIA Research project – BEF sub group – BRE verified – Supported by a number partners and consisting of SFRS Fire Safety officers and an industry expert How – December 2014 to April 2015 – SFRS WM’s and a fire alarm industry expert attended calls – Gathered live data & investigated 65 false alarm incidents – Supplementary data on approx 2,000 other calls gathered by operational crews THE UK’s NATIONAL FIRE SAFETY ORGANISATION Protecting people, property, business and the environment Tweet your questions to #FSS15

Data collated by project team 124 questions, including: – Fire risk assessment available? – Person responsible for managing the alarm system? – Log books & zone plans available? – Detectors installed? – Age of detectors & system? – When last serviced? – What caused the alarm? – What could have prevented it? – Competencies of SFRS personnel to identify cause, etc? THE UK’s NATIONAL FIRE SAFETY ORGANISATION Protecting people, property, business and the environment Tweet your questions to #FSS15

Project findings False Alarm CauseFrequency ** Unknown374 ** Fault325 Dust215 Testing116 Accidental116 Steam98 Aerosol73 Water ingress65 Others635 Total2017 THE UK’s NATIONAL FIRE SAFETY ORGANISATION Protecting people, property, business and the environment Tweet your questions to #FSS15

Project findings Poorly positioned detector heads Multi sensor detectors Condition and knowledge of systems Premise’s management & testing arrangements Manual call points Staff alarms (investigation periods) THE UK’s NATIONAL FIRE SAFETY ORGANISATION Protecting people, property, business and the environment Tweet your questions to #FSS15

Main recommendations Promote mandatory use of multi-sensor detectors During the BS revision, propose a review of old detectors and possible need for replacement MCPs to be protected, and installed with covers Promote facilities on alarm systems for signalling test keys Positively promote the use of staff alarms, or investigation periods Promote modern system capabilities with all interested parties Inform and educate alarm companies on the impact of UFAS Consider these outcomes in future British Standards Strengthen certification, inspection and accreditation arrangements THE UK’s NATIONAL FIRE SAFETY ORGANISATION Protecting people, property, business and the environment Tweet your questions to #FSS15

Other considerations DCLG report – ‘Costs & benefits of alternative approaches to Automatic Fire Alarms’ (2008) – Response strategies HMFSI report – ‘Managing Automatic Fire Signals’ (2015) SFRS internal policy review (2015) THE UK’s NATIONAL FIRE SAFETY ORGANISATION Protecting people, property, business and the environment Tweet your questions to #FSS15

Next steps - SFRS Continue to engage with premise owners & occupiers Positively influence reducing UFAS in premises Collate in depth, and consistent, UFAS data across SFRS Maintain a trend reduction in non-essential blue light journeys Review response strategy, and reduce attendance only following careful risk assessment, in particular risk to life Use of local UFAS ‘champions’ THE UK’s NATIONAL FIRE SAFETY ORGANISATION Protecting people, property, business and the environment Tweet your questions to #FSS15

THE UK’s NATIONAL FIRE SAFETY ORGANISATION Protecting people, property, business and the environment Tweet your questions to #FSS15