Fire Protection In Commercial Properties
Fire is a hazard that every business faces. A fire can destroy a building and all of its contents, as well as cause death to those inside. Loss of a business’s stock, equipment, machinery and premises due to fire, or the interruption to business caused by a fire can be devastating. There are many different types of fires including electrical fires, chemical fires and paper fires, and there are hundreds of ways that a fire can happen.
What is Fire Protection?
Fire protection refers to various ways of preventing and dealing with fire. A building’s fire protection plan is made up of a wide range of systems, including fire suppression systems, sprinkler systems, smoke detectors, fire alarms and fire monitoring systems. All of these systems work together to ensure that a fire is detected as early as possible and controlled as quickly as possible. This reduces the risk of damage to the property and makes it safer for people inside the property.
Why Does Fire Protection Matter?
As a person responsible for the health and safety of people and your premises, it is your legal duty to ensure that the people who work on your commercial properties are protected from the risks of fire.
Health & Safety Executive says that, Employers (and/or building owners or occupiers) must carry out a fire safety risk assessment and keep it up to date. This shares the same approach as health and safety risk assessments and can be carried out either as part of an overall risk assessment or as a separate exercise.
Based on the findings of the assessment, employers need to ensure that adequate and appropriate fire safety measures are in place to minimise the risk of injury or loss of life in the event of a fire.
To help prevent fire in the workplace, your risk assessment should identify what could cause a fire to start, ie sources of ignition (heat or sparks) and substances that burn, and the people who may be at risk.
Once you have identified the risks, you can take appropriate action to control them. Consider whether you can avoid them altogether or, if this is not possible, how you can reduce the risks and manage them. Also consider how you will protect people if there is a fire.
- Carry out a fire safety risk assessment
- Keep sources of ignition and flammable substances apart
- Avoid accidental fires, eg make sure heaters cannot be knocked over
- Ensure good housekeeping at all times, eg avoid build-up of rubbish that could burn
- Consider how to detect fires and how to warn people quickly if they start, eg installing smoke alarms and fire alarms or bells
- Have the correct fire-fighting equipment for putting a fire out quickly. We provide a range of this fire protection equipment here
- Keep fire exits and escape routes clearly marked and unobstructed at all times
- Ensure your workers receive appropriate training on procedures they need to follow, including fire drills
- Review and update your risk assessment regularly
Types of Fire Protection Systems
At Cannon Fire Protection we design, supply, install and maintain various types of fire protection systems that can be used for commercial property fire protection.
Sprinklers Systems
The first is a wet sprinkler system in which the pipes are filled with water at all times and a fire detection system will activate them when a fire is detected. For more information on our fire sprinklers click here.
Aerosol Suppression Systems
Aerosol suppression systems have been around for many years, but many people are not aware of their market presence. These systems are ‘Green’ being non-toxic and contains no CFCs or HFCs. Two of the more well-known brands within the industry are Pyrogen and FirePro, although other brands exist.
Inert Gas Systems
With today’s world constantly pushing towards ‘Green’, Inert gases are an excellent choice for today’s fire suppression systems. These agents are based on naturally occurring gases found all around us – even in the air, that we breathe. They are a class of gases which do not undergo chemical reactions under a set of given conditions, nor typically, do they react with many other substances.
Water Mist Systems
A water mist system is a fire protection system which utilises water, high pressure and specialised sprinkler spray heads to form very fine water droplets, ranging from 50 to 300µm depending on the system design.
This increases the overall surface area of the water being deployed and such, much smaller supply quantities of water are required in comparison to a standard sprinkler system.
We are also UK leading experts in the design, supply, installation and maintenance of Ansul R-102, Ansul Pirahna and Ansul RED systems.
Fire Protection System Maintenance
Fire protection systems should be maintained on a regular basis. This includes testing the system’s alarm, checking all fire detection devices, checking for any damage to the system, and making sure they are able to activate in the event of a fire. Our maintenance also ensures that in the unfortunate event that a system has been expelled, we will replace/fill it with the appropriate agent or system.
About Cannon Fire Protection
With over 30 years of experience, Cannon Fire Protection has developed an excellent reputation within the fire protection industry throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.
For well over a decade now the company has focused on supporting fire industry trade users, providing turnkey solutions for fire suppression. Independent auditing of our quality management systems, contracting and service operations ensures the very best provision of support in our sector. Cannon Fire Protection is part of the Asset Protection Group.