Fire Doors
There is a very good reason to ensure your fire doors are kept closed. However, many individuals are not aware of the importance of fire doors and because of this ignorance, you will find wedged open doors or doors held open by fire extinguishers on many premises. This practice is often done to allow easy access or to increase ventilation.
Fire Compartments
Fire doors form part of a fire compartment. What is a fire compartment? A fire compartment is an area within a building which is completely surrounded with fire resistant construction. The purpose of a fire compartment is to slow down or prevent the spread of fire within a building. The fire door forms part of this fire compartment barrier. Therefore, by leaving a fire door open, you have, in fact, created a breach within the fire barrier allowing smoke, toxic gases and fire to spread from one area of the building to another.
How can we overcome the problem
Fire training is very important to educate staff on the importance of fire doors. Fire Systems Ltd, now provide very cost effective on line fire training. This method of training is very successful as it allows staff to receive fire training from their place of work or desk as long as they have an internet connection. Following the training the member of staff sits through a basic test to ensure they have understood what has been taught. A certificate is given to the member of staff on completion of all five fire safety training modules.
Connecting your Fire doors to your fire alarm system
If having all your fire doors closed at all times is a problem or inconvenience, you can get around this by legally by connecting your fire doors to your fire alarm system. This can be done in many ways, but basically, it would involve having a magnet powered by the fire alarm. On the fire door, itself is a metal plate. Opening the door to its full position, allows the plate on the door to connect to the magnet and the door will be held open for a long as there is power to the door magnet. In the event of a fire alarm activation, the fire alarm removes the power to the door magnet and this in turn releases the door to its closed position. It is important to mention that the door must have a mechanical door closure to ensure that the door will close on release of the door magnet.
Another method is the use of a “Dorgard” by fireco. A Dorgard is not directly connected to the fire alarm system, but it is an independent unit fitted directly to the fire door. The Dorgard operates by hearing the fire alarm sounder for a period longer than 14 seconds. Using the Dorgard is cost effective, but it is not as robust as connecting the doors directly to the fire alarm as stated above. For example, I do not believe Dorgard would be suitable for buildings such as schools, hospitals, large hotels, etc.
Fire Systems Ltd, install and maintain all types of automatic fire alarm door closures. For more information contact our office for further details.
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Fire Doors are important to protect escape routes in the event of fire. |
