Retail Fire Alarm Systems: The Intelligence Behind Safer Environments

The unique compliance challenges facing retail environments

Overcoming high-risk areas and complex escape routes

The single biggest fire safety challenge in retail environments is the accessibility of fire exits. Escape routes can be complex due to promotional materials, queues, storage carts, and display merchandise blocking essential fire exit routes. This makes retail fire safety compliance more difficult, and can increase the risk of fatal incidents due to slow, inefficient evacuation.  

Why manual compliance processes fail multi-site retail

Manual compliance processes can be time-consuming and require a lot of paperwork. This makes them less effective for multi-site retail because there is no form of real-time monitoring. Manual compliance relies on site visits for each location to perform compliance checks which can leave big time gaps between compliance checks for a single location. In the time between compliance checks, there is the opportunity for faults to develop and go overlooked, leading to non-compliance, false alarms and increased fire risk.

The risk of reactive maintenance and false alarms

Reactive maintenance poses more risk to a retail site as a false alarm or fire event needs to occur before any action is taken. In the case of relying on false alarms as a trigger to perform maintenance, this can result in alert fatigue amongst the staff. Making them more complacent and less likely to take fire alarms seriously which can result in slower evacuations and an increased risk of fatal incidents.

In the case of an active fire event, it is too late to perform maintenance. It is more likely that repair or replacement will be needed due to fire and smoke damage.  

Going beyond the alarm: Asset and maintenance intelligence

Go beyond the alarm with Drax Technology. Our intelligent platform allows for full asset management of all fire safety devices across your portfolio.

Proactive asset management for fire and life safety devices

Proactive retail fire maintenance helps to keep costs down and reduce the amount of false alarms and fire events. Our intelligent solution enables you to see all of the fire safety assets across your retail sites, check the status of each asset in real-time, and plan remedial maintenance early to resolve small issues before they can progress to larger threats. 

Early identification of faulty smoke detectors and sensors

‘Always on’ fire safety software allows for the early detection of faults in smoke detectors and heat sensors. This improves response times, reduces the likelihood of false alarms and fire incidents, and reduces the need for replacement costs. 

Tamper detection and accountability alerts

Real-time tamper detection allows you to catch issues early, address them directly, and provide comprehensive reports for full accountability.

Streamlined system testing and certified reporting

System testing can be performed via the centralised dashboard. Removing the need for on-site system testing, and saving time. Automatic reporting of alarm alerts and fire event data reduces the need for paperwork.

What is the main difference between Drax Technology and a competitor like Nimbus Digital or CLSS by Honeywell?

The main difference between Drax technology and our competitors is the approach that we take to fire safety. Whereas our competitors focus on reactive alerts and a service-led solution with a modular approach which can lead to incomplete audit trails, more false alarms, and awkward integration. We focus on a complete technology-led solution that puts control into the hands of the ‘responsible person’ and facilitates a proactive approach to fire safety compliance.

How does Drax Technology help my retail business with fire safety compliance?

Drax Technology can help your retail business with fire safety compliance by providing critical alarm management of all fire safety assets across your sites that can be controlled from one centralised, user-friendly dashboard.

The compliance hub automatically records complete audit trails, detects any cases of non-compliance, and provides actionable guidance on how to proceed to remain fully compliant. 

Can Drax Technology integrate with my existing retail fire alarm systems?

Yes, our solution can seamlessly integrate with, and interlink, numerous fire safety assets from different fire alarm manufacturers. It is compatible with over 50 fire safety brands.

How does critical alarm management reduce downtime in a retail environment?

Critical alarm management reduces downtime in a retail environment by monitoring all fire safety assets and their statuses in real-time, anticipating faults that can lead to false alarms or fire events, and providing actionable guidance on how to remedy any potential faults. By avoiding needless false alarms and fire events, the amount of downtime is significantly reduced.

Does Drax Technology offer solutions for other retail compliance issues, like water safety?

Yes, our comprehensive compliance platform covers asset management, critical alarm management, and water system monitoring.