Fire detection specialist, Hochiki Europe, has cautioned that, although the use of wireless-based fire detection technology has ‘grown massively’ in recent years, and proven ‘particularly useful’ within healthcare environments, ‘it is important to remember that the technology is better suited to some environments than others’.
The company says: “Many of the UK’s hospitals were built at the beginning of the last century, and some of the materials used are now recognised as hazardous to health. Chief among these is asbestos, which, although safe if undisturbed, can be dangerous if cracked, broken, or drilled into. Installing a wireless fire detection system eliminates this risk – explaining why it is an increasingly popular alternative to a wired system.”
Hochiki says wireless fire detection systems are also well-suited to temporary or remote locations ‘where it is impractical to undertake the costly and time-consuming groundworks associated with digging trenches or pulling cables from one building to another’.
The company says successful deployment of a wireless system within a hospital will usually depend upon its construction and layout – with modern structures that utilise wooden stud and thin brick walls allowing for better signal penetration than older builds with very thick walls. Denser materials can attenuate the signal, and greatly reduce the distance it can travel, while it has even been suggested that particularly thick or tinted glass in doors and partitions can affect performance.
Hochiki explains: “Overcoming these issues requires careful planning, and a survey is the first and most important step. It involves taking the site’s floorplans, calculating the number of transceivers required, and establishing the best places to site them. The results then need to be tested in situ using the selected manufacturer’s approved test equipment, to check for good signal strength throughout the area to be protected.
“Only a wireless system with third-party approval that is EN 54 and BS 5839- compliant should be used. This will ensure intelligent integration that allows analogue values, fire and fault information, device addresses, and type codes, to be transmitted directly to a control panel. To ensure a secure, stable service, the equipment should also possess a selection of automated adjustment technologies, including channel hopping, amplitude adjustment, and drift compensation, to ensure ‘always on’ operation.
“A wireless system will initially be configured around a specific building layout, so any changes could affect signal strength. It is therefore important to retest and, if necessary, relocate any transceivers if faults are reported. A system’s devices should also have a five-year battery life from the primary cell, and a further two months from the secondary cell.”
Hochiki says every life safety installation should be configured ‘according to the specific requirements of a building and those who inhabit it’. It adds: “The fact that a wireless system can be installed quickly and easily, and used in conjunction with a wired solution, means it provides a flexible solution for a wide variety of different circumstances.”
