Pharmaceutical Fire Alarm Systems: Intelligent Compliance and Critical Alarm Management


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The Intelligence Behind Safer Pharmaceutical Environments

Why standard fire systems fail GxP and critical infrastructure requirements

Standard fire systems fail GxP (Good Practices) and critical infrastructure requirements because they are only reactive to fire events. This means that they cannot guarantee regulatory requirements such as sensitive environment monitoring, data integrity, business continuity, and asset protection. They are too slow to be effective.

The high cost of reactive fire and life safety management

Relying on reactive biotech fire safety solutions can be very costly with multiple forms of financial loss. A fire event or false alarm can lead to the need for the destruction of a high-value pharmaceutical batch to avoid contamination. Triggers for emergency shutdown should be avoided to prevent this from happening.

Reactive alarms guarantee asset damage and financial loss in the case of a fire as they only detect smoke after a fire’s ignition. The use of  Very Early Warning Smoke Detection (VESDA) systems should be implemented to detect fire risks in their early pre-fire stages.

In the pharmaceutical sector, downtime is considered unacceptable due to the millions in losses that it can incur. False alarms pose a big threat to the amount of downtime that a company may face. In fact, a single false alarm can result in a needless evacuation and shutdown of a laboratory that damages critical infrastructure demands via operational paralysis.

Turning siloed data into one clear, actionable view

Pharmaceutical facilities often require precise fire zoning to allow for an incident to be isolated without it affecting other areas of the facility so that they can remain operational. This is something that is hard to achieve and monitor with siloed data. By using multiple systems that provide their own fire event data locally, it can be very difficult to create an actionable overview of the fire safety assets across your sites. This makes it difficult to spot potential fire risks quickly, and can lead to a delayed fire safety response.

How Drax Technology creates a single, actionable view

Drax Technology brings fire alarm data from across zones, buildings and systems into one central, intelligent platform, giving pharmaceutical teams a clear, real-time overview of fire safety status across their facilities. This unified view makes it far easier to monitor complex zoning strategies, quickly identify emerging risks and respond accurately to incidents, helping to isolate issues without disrupting critical operations in unaffected areas.

The Intelligence Behind Safer Pharmaceutical Environments

  • Why standard fire systems fail GxP and critical infrastructure requirements Standard fire systems fail GxP (Good Practices) and critical infrastructure requirements because they are only reactive to fire events. This means that they cannot guarantee regulatory requirements such as sensitive environment monitoring, data integrity, business continuity, and asset protection. They are too slow to be effective.
  • The high cost of reactive fire and life safety management Relying on reactive biotech fire safety solutions can be very costly with multiple forms of financial loss. A fire event or false alarm can lead to the need for the destruction of a high-value pharmaceutical batch to avoid contamination. Triggers for emergency shutdown should be avoided to prevent this from happening. Reactive alarms guarantee asset damage and financial loss in the case of a fire as they only detect smoke after a fire’s ignition. The use of  Very Early Warning Smoke Detection (VESDA) systems should be implemented to detect fire risks in their early pre-fire stages.
  • The high cost of reactive fire and life safety management In the pharmaceutical sector, downtime is considered unacceptable due to the millions in losses that it can incur. False alarms pose a big threat to the amount of downtime that a company may face. In fact, a single false alarm can result in a needless evacuation and shutdown of a laboratory that damages critical infrastructure demands via operational paralysis.
  • Turning siloed data into one clear, actionable view Pharmaceutical facilities often require precise fire zoning to allow for an incident to be isolated without it affecting other areas of the facility so that they can remain operational. This is something that is hard to achieve and monitor with siloed data. By using multiple systems that provide their own fire event data locally, it can be very difficult to create an actionable overview of the fire safety assets across your sites. This makes it difficult to spot potential fire risks quickly, and can lead to a delayed fire safety response.

Who We Work With

Drax Technology's Solution for Pharmaceutical and Biotech Fire Safety

  • Critical alarm management: From trigger to resolution See the status of every fire safety asset in your portfolio, detect potential risks, and resolve them quickly.
  • Real-time data and remote monitoring for fast response Monitor your alarm systems in real-time 24/7 from any location via a web-enabled device.
  • Scalable solutions for R&D, manufacturing, and storage facilities Integrate multiple systems seamlessly with bandwidth to add further devices in the future.
  • Continuous, Autonomous Compliance for GxP Environments Benefit from ‘always on’ GxP compliance fire systems that provide automatic updates.
  • Automated audit trails for regulators and insurers Complete audit trails are saved locally and updated automatically for easy and accurate compliance reporting.
  • Proactive maintenance: Anticipating equipment failure Predictive technology that enables you to anticipate equipment faults and prevent them with proactive maintenance.
  • Integrated asset management for total building safety Manage every fire safety asset on your sites via one centralised, user-friendly dashboard.
  • Monitoring fire doors, HVAC, and water hygiene from one platform Monitor more than just fire alarms and panels with comprehensive fire safety integration.
  • Tamper detection and accountability Resolve issues due to tampering efficiently and effectively with in-depth status reporting for all devices across your portfolio.

Pain Points Drax Technology Can Assist You With

Competitors are focused on traditional services, not the end user

Unlike our competitors, instead of providing a traditional fire safety system that leaves you reliant upon a service provider, we place full control of your fire safety systems in your hands. By integrating our technology with your fire safety assets, you can make GMP fire compliance an integral part of your workflow. This allows you to take full responsibility for the fire safety standards across all of your sites, without having to make information requests to third parties.

The challenge of integrating multiple fire alarm panel manufacturers

Site expansions and upgrades can lead to new and different fire alarm panels being present across your portfolio. Many of our competitors only offer modular fire safety solutions which can result in siloed data and inefficient integration. This can ultimately lead to more unwanted paperwork. At Drax Technology, we take a fully integrated approach that centralises all fire and alarm systems, regardless of brand. This cuts down on paperwork and allows for automated compliance testing.

Lack of real-time, fixed-cost compliance forecasting

Traditional fire safety service providers often charge a fee for each separate device that is tested.This can make compliance cost forecasting difficult, as there is no easy way to know how many devices will need attention. It can also increase costs as more devices are needed and more work is done. 

Our solution offers continuous compliance through real-time dashboards and automated reporting. This helps to greatly reduce the amount of manual work that is needed, and provides the opportunity to base your budget forecasting on in-depth fire safety asset data.

Technician reluctance and complexity with new systems

A big teething problem for new fire safety software is the need for technicians to learn how to use it. This can become a real problem for technicians, when there are multiple pieces of software that deal with pharmaceutical critical alarm management. 

With our user-friendly platform, we aim to reduce the amount of friction created by introducing a new piece of software. It simplifies safety, compliance and control with a single centralised system that covers everything. One platform, zero complexity.

Our system is compatible with over 50 fire alarm manufacturers

Trusted Expertise in Critical Infrastructure

  • Global experience with critical alarm management Our intelligent critical alarm management platform is trusted in over 4,00 businesses worldwide. We work with a number of well-known companies including the NHS, Apple, and Ikea.
  • Seamless integration with leading fire panel manufacturers Integrate fire safety assets from over 50 fire alarm manufacturers easily with our centralised software.
  • Client-tested outcomes on emergency response and maintenance Many of our clients have provided test studies on the effectiveness of our systems, including universities, hospitals and football clubs.

Healthcare Case Studies

Drax Technology

Take Control of Your Fire Safety Compliance

If you want to have full control of your fire safety compliance without the need to make requests of third parties, our intelligent technology can help. We’ll help you integrate all of your fire safety assets into one centralised platform to make critical alarm management easy.

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Pharmaceutical fire alarm system FAQ's

How is Drax Technology different from traditional fire safety service companies?

Drax Technology is different from traditional fire safety service companies because we provide an intelligent platform that puts you in control of your pharmaceutical fire alarm systems. Regardless of fire panel manufacturer, you can monitor, control, and run reports on all of your fire safety assets without the need for third party support. 

Can Drax Technology integrate with my existing fire alarm panels?

Yes, our intelligent solution is compatible with over 50 fire alarm manufacturers, and is capable of interconnecting multiple fire panels from different brands.

How does the platform help with GxP and regulatory compliance?

The platform helps with GxP and regulatory compliance by keeping, and automatically updating, a full audit trail of all connected fire safety assets across your sites. It also provides user-friendly reporting via its compliance hub.

Does Drax Technology's solution cover more than just fire alarms?

Yes, our solution is designed to facilitate full asset management of fire safety equipment including alarms, suppression systems, fire doors and more.