Intelligent Fire Alarm Systems for Distribution Depots and Logistics

The unique fire and safety challenges of logistics and warehousing

Warehouses often contain a large amount of flammable materials such as cardboard, plastics and other packaging materials. This leads to fires spreading very quickly. The layout of racking and storage can compound this problem further, due to the chimney effect they create which can draw heat and flames upwards quickly. This means that a fire in a warehouse can cause a significant amount of damage very quickly, and dictates the need for comprehensive warehouse safety systems.

Why are high ceilings a major challenge for fire detection?

High ceilings are a major challenge for fire detection systems because traditional smoke alarms are placed so high up that they do not detect smoke until it has risen to a considerable height. The use of specific high-ceiling fire detection is extremely important in warehouses.The height of stacked goods can be detrimental to the effectiveness of sprinkler systems too, as they may block water from reaching and extinguishing an established fire below.

Why Traditional Fire Alarm Systems Fall Short for BTR

Reactive alert tools and a lack of real-time visibility

Conventional fire alarm systems trigger alerts, but often show barely any insight into the original cause of the issue. This means that facilities managers remain reactive and have to wait for an issue to occur, instead of preventing them.

Time-consuming manual inspections and reporting

With manual logbooks and fragmented reporting, compliance tasks become very time consuming for staff and in turn, leaves room for human error.

Inefficient maintenance and service requests

Routine maintenance often becomes reactive instead of proactive. Minor faults can become major issues, driving costs higher and damaging resident trust.

Overcome siloed data with a unified critical alarm management platform

Asset management for fire safety in distribution depots

Fire alarm system asset management is an ongoing process that needs to be maintained at all times. If it is ignored or neglected it can lead to major fire risks and non-compliance with British regulations.

RAG-rated asset tracking and preventative remedial planning

By coupling RAG-rated asset tracking and preventative remedial planning, you can ensure that your fire alarm system asset management is effective and consistent. You can do this by assigning a status to each of your fire safety assets. Either red (immediate and urgent intervention needed), amber (corrective action required) or green (low risk of failure, no action required). This will then inform you of which assets require the most urgent attention to reduce risk.

By doing this across all fire safety assets within your portfolio, you can keep fire risk to a minimum.

Full lifecycle visibility for all fire safety assets, from detectors to extinguishers

To use RAG-rated asset planning and preventative remedial planning effectively, you need to be able to assign a status to every fire safety asset across your portfolio. This can be easier said than done. Especially if you have numerous fire safety assets from different manufacturers across multiple sites and properties.