Staff handsets for fire alrm system

[alfi]

Has anyone any information on "staff handsets" in relation to fire alrm systems or procedures on how to use these in an office complex, need some information for study puposes and struggling to locate anything besides sales information

Appreciate any help guys

[Graeme]

do you mean like a paging system?

[Username]

Our Fire Alarm system sends a signal to our Dect phone system. The Dect phones have an LCD screen and are carried by key personnel. The script that appears on the phone is the same as appears on the fire panel itself.

It's worth noting that we treat this as a nice-to-have but don't rely on it soley to raise the alarm.

[alfi]

Gents,

I've been asked to Explain the circumstances in which a staff alarm might be considered and the arrangements that you would incorporate within a staff alarm facility to ensure an adequate degree of safety for occupants of a multi-storey office building

[Wiz]

Gents,

I've been asked to Explain the circumstances in which a staff alarm might be considered and the arrangements that you would incorporate within a staff alarm facility to ensure an adequate degree of safety for occupants of a multi-storey office building

Based on your post quoted above I would assume the question is about a method of only alerting staff (at least initially) to a fire alarm condition. This might take many formats.

Based on the mention of 'staff handsets' in your original post I might guess the question is actually asking about a Fire Marshall Communications System using handset style fire telephones. If so, try www.c-tec.co.uk for more info on their SigTel system.

[Chris Houston]

Tony,

I think you will get a more detailed reply if you explain your question in more detail.  Why do you need to know this, what is the application.  My immediate reaction is that in an office the alarm goes off and everyone evacuates, the use of such a devise is not normal, so please explain so we can help better.

[Benzerari]

Tony,

I think you will get a more detailed reply if you explain your question in more detail.  Why do you need to know this, what is the application.  My immediate reaction is that in an office the alarm goes off and everyone evacuates, the use of such a devise is not normal, so please explain so we can help better.

Correct, if what Grame stated is the case, I have seen EMS pager useful for walk test you can see on the pager what device you are triggering with its Ident., address, location text...etc

It can be used by security staff when patrolling the building too... etc

If is not the case then I haven’t got a clue!

[alfi]

sorry gents,

this is a question for the FPA eurpoean diploma  and it states"

Explain the circumstances in which a staff alarm might be considered and the arrangements that you would incorporate within a staff alarm facility to ensure an adequate degree of safety for occupants of a multi-storey office building"


I've wrote about DDA for deaf people, and maybe for key staff such as fire wardens so they can possible investigate while in pre alarm, but can't find any more information.

thanks for the help guys

[Benzerari]

sorry gents,

this is a question for the FPA eurpoean diploma  and it states"

Explain the circumstances in which a staff alarm might be considered and the arrangements that you would incorporate within a staff alarm facility to ensure an adequate degree of safety for occupants of a multi-storey office building"


I've wrote about DDA for deaf people, and maybe for key staff such as fire wardens so they can possible investigate while in pre alarm, but can't find any more information.

thanks for the help guys

You are I think, at the junction between; panic alarm, nurse alarm, fire alarm, burglar alarm, …what ever alarm…etc, but sorry this seems to be 4th dimension dilemma it needs a differential equation to guess certain solutions with less certainty… etc

[Wiz]

sorry gents,

this is a question for the FPA eurpoean diploma  and it states"

Explain the circumstances in which a staff alarm might be considered and the arrangements that you would incorporate within a staff alarm facility to ensure an adequate degree of safety for occupants of a multi-storey office building"


I've wrote about DDA for deaf people, and maybe for key staff such as fire wardens so they can possible investigate while in pre alarm, but can't find any more information.

thanks for the help guys

You are I think, at the junction between; panic alarm, nurse alarm, fire alarm, burglar alarm, …what ever alarm…etc, but sorry this seems to be 4th dimension dilemma it needs a differential equation to guess certain solutions with less certainty… etc

Tonyfog, then it is a staff alarm facilty you are talking about i.e. something that warns the staff of a fire condition before a general evacuation signal. In a building where everyone knows the different signals, the staff alarm might be a different alarm sound. In other circumstances it might be just a visual signal. Wireless signals may also/or instead be used to contact staff directly by radio/pager.

I don't know much else about staff alarms although my experience is that many fire officers are wary of the delay they add to the evacuation process and don't recommend them except in buildings with large numbers of the general public, where mass evacuation can be disrupting or needs to be carefully controlled.

p.s. pre-alarm is normally a function of analogue addressable systems only, where a signal is generated at a detection level just slightly lower than the detection level of a full fire condition. This pre-alarm may or may not be an indication of an impending full fire condition, but where it is, it normally follows just seconds after the pre-alarm.

[alfi]

thanks for all the info chaps, appreciated, think I've got the idea now

[Chris Houston]

My responce to someone asking me that question would be "please explain exactly what you are asking".

[colin todd]

Christopher, I wrote that question for the diploma paper. I thought it was clear enough! What is the ambiguity? It was simply asking under what circumstances are staff alarms used in buildings. Contrary to what is suggested many f&RS actually adovocate a staff alarm nowadays by the way. However, there is a need for various safeguards to ensure that the arrangement does not increase risk unduly. (The intention was that diploma candidates read the standard, which has all the answers quite explicitly.)

[Chris Houston]

It seems to me that the term "staff alarm" could mean so many things that it is unclear.  Is it a fire alarm, a disabled alarm, an intruder alarm, a gas release alarm.....

[colin todd]

UMMMMMMMMM no not really Christopher. Staff alarm is a defined term. See BS 5839-1