Intelligent Film Set Fire Alarm Systems: Proactive Safety for Studio Operations

Why Standard Fire Safety Solutions Fail the TV and Film Industry

The unique complexities of studio environments

Studio environments are the complete opposite of a standard workplace. They have a number of elements that can lead to much higher fire risks than warehouses and factories, most notably when it comes to equipment and procedures/personnel. 

The use of temporary sets often includes a high concentration of flammable materials including wood, foam, fabrics, and cardboard that have not been treated for fire resistance. This can result in a fire spreading extremely quickly throughout a site.

The use of high-powered lighting equipment can lead to increased levels of heat and potential ignition of flammable materials if placed too closely. The presence of multiple temporary electric devices to help power and run a set (generators, cabling, cameras and lights) can also increase the chances of an electrical overload that leads to a fire.

On many sets, there are special effects such as pyrotechnics and controlled fire sources such as candles and fireplaces that all provide an inherent fire risk. The use of other devices such as smoke machines can also cause issues with accurate fire detection and alerts. This can result in false fire alarms on set that can cause disruption and unwanted downtime.

Studio environments are often very dynamic and fluid. This can lead to issues that standard fire safety solutions are not equipped to deal with. With the amount of equipment and personnel required for a shoot, there is a high possibility that fire exits can be obstructed or difficult to access, and that personnel are not familiar with the fire routes and alarm sounds for the site.. This places high importance on early detection of fire risks, as evacuations will generally take longer. 

The cost of downtime: why swift, accurate response is critical

Due to extremely tight production schedules, downtime is one of the biggest problems that can affect the film and media industry. This is because it can incur extra costs of having to pay for the use of a site for several more days than planned. It can also lead to every part of a production being delayed via a knock-on effect. This can require a lot of rescheduling and cancellation/moving of planned post production.

A swift and accurate response to any fire risk on a film set is therefore extremely important, as it can reduce the amount of downtime and lessen the impact of any knock-on effects. 

Navigating compliance for constantly changing sets

Ensuring that every film set is fire safety compliant is a very big challenge. This is because they are constantly changing. Whether different props or backdrops are changed or the number of personnel keeps changing, making sure that the information provided to regulatory bodies is up to date and correct can be very challenging.

Fact: Fire and rescue services’ total incident volume rose to 598,504 in the year ending September 2024, a 7.7% increase over five years, prompting event and production venues to coordinate more closely with local services on pre‑planning and emergency procedures.​

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-and-rescue-incident-statistics-year-ending-september-2024/fire-and-rescue-incident-statistics-england-year-ending-september-2024

Overcoming Industry Pain Points with Drax Technology

Pain Point: Siloed fire safety data and manual compliance checks

Due to many film sets being either temporary or remote, manual compliance checks of all active sites can be very time consuming. This makes it hard to ensure that all active sites and sets are fully compliant at all times. Add siloed data to this issue and it is hard to have a full overview of your fire safety systems and their compliance statuses.

Drax Solution: Centralised Critical Alarm Management

Our software facilitates centralised critical alarm management for TV and film sets by monitoring all of the alarms across your sets and sites, and providing an overview of their real-time statuses in one easy-to-use dashboard. This removes the need for manual compliance checks, and provides a central hub that displays all of your fire safety data in one place.

Pain Point: Slow, costly response to false or minor alarms

False alarms can cause a lot of unwanted downtime on film sets which leads to extra costs and a reduction in staff morale including an increase in alarm fatigue. This can lead to fire alerts being taken less seriously resulting in slower evacuations and more risk of fatal incidents. 

Drax Solution: Reduced Alert Fatigue and Customisable Messaging

By taking a proactive approach to fire safety compliance and fire system integration across film studios, our intelligent platform reduces the amount of false or minor alarms due to technician faults. It does this by anticipating potential faults across your fire safety asset portfolio and providing actionable guidance on how to remedy any issues before they can develop into a bigger problem. 

Pain Point: Lack of asset visibility for budgeting and lifecycle management

When needing to keep track of a large range of fire safety assets across multiple sites, it is difficult to see the status of each piece of fire safety equipment. This makes it hard to make decisions on what should take priority when it comes to fire safety maintenance, and reduces the visibility of whereabouts in its lifecycle a piece of equipment may be.

Drax Solution: Comprehensive Asset Management

With our fully integrated platform, all fire safety assets are interlinked and monitored by one central piece of software that provides a complete view of the systems across your entire portfolio. Each fire safety asset has its own real-time status and compliance report which allows you to quickly determine which systems need maintenance, and what the best course of action for each fire safety asset is.

The Drax Technology Advantage Over Standard Fire Services

Find out how our intelligent fire safety systems outperform standard fire safety services.

We focus on technology, not just service delivery

Most standard fire safety services just focus on how quickly they can react to a fire event. While this can keep people safe, it does not account for costs related to time lost and damages. Our approach focuses on avoiding a fire event through the implementation of intelligent technology. This helps to avoid downtime due to false alarms and significantly reduces the amount of fire risks in general. 

Integrated systems for total infrastructure resilience

By connecting all of your fire safety systems to one centralised intelligent platform, you can improve the resilience of your fire safety efforts overall. This reduces fire risks that could be missed due to inefficient manual checks, and provides real-time data that can help you to make informed decisions quickly and easily.

Protection your board can see: executive-level insight Hub

Our insight hub can provide you with a record of all fire events that have been either remedied or avoided through a proactive approach. This makes it easy to show the value of your film studio fire compliance, and provides an oversight of how many fire events could have been missed otherwise.

What is critical alarm management for a film studio?

Critical alarm management for a film studio starts with the use of a centralised platform that actively monitors all of your fire safety assets in real-time. This enables you to take a proactive approach to film studio fire compliance. Detecting potential fire risks early, removing small issues before they can develop further, and ensuring continuous fire safety compliance.

How can Drax Technology help with temporary film set compliance?

Our real-time audit trails and user-friendly compliance hub allow you to prove that a temporary film set adheres to British fire safety compliance standards quickly and easily.

Does Drax Technology integrate with my existing fire alarm panels?

Yes, our software is compatible with over 50 fire alarm panel manufacturers and can interlink fire safety systems from multiple brands.

How does Drax Technology reduce false alarms and downtime on a film set?

Drax Technology reduces false alarms and downtime on a film set by taking a proactive approach to fire safety. The use of real-time monitoring and predictive analytics help to identify potential faults and plan proactive maintenance to avoid unwanted downtime due to technical faults and false alarms.

Can I manage multiple studio locations from one place?

Yes, our platform can be connected to multiple sites and can monitor all of your fire safety assets at once. All fire safety equipment can be managed easily through a user-friendly dashboard.