DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH FALSE ALARMS ARE COSTING YOUR BUSINESS?
Independent Research: The true cost of false alarms on the UK economy 2023
False Alarm Research
False alarms are costing businesses in the UK nearly £700 million every year
New and independent research has revealed that the cost of avoidable fire alarms, such as false alarms and minor incidents, are costing SMEs in the UK £696 million every single year. The figure comes from research conducted by RedFox Research, a leading and independent expert in technology and B2B research, commissioned by Hochiki Europe to understand the impact of false fire alarms on UK businesses.
65% say most alarms are false alarms
300 SME businesses owners and senior members of staff were asked how much they estimate an evacuation caused by minor incidents and/or false alarms, cost their organisation and if the impact was significant to production.
65% of respondents believe that most alarms experienced in the past 12 months are indeed false alarms, with nine out of ten resulting in total evacuation of businesses and one in every four causing significant disruption to the business.
Industries interviewed included:
- Hospitality, leisure and travel
- Retail and ecommerce
- Financial and insurance
- Healthcare
- Manufacturing
- Public sector and not for profit
- Education
Almost 30% of unplanned fire incidents are costing SME's £1000 or more in disruptions. The research indicates that when the statistics are broadened out to cover the whole of the UK, unplanned alarms such as false alarms or minor incidents are indeed having a multimillion-pound impact on the economy.
Aside from drills, and kitchen incidents, dust and smoke caused from building works and maintenance caused 20% of unplanned or false alarms followed by equipment failures at 18%, with 12% citing other causes or not known.
With regards to the immediate and obvious financial impact, owners and senior management revealed that these unplanned alarms had far reaching consequences in lost productivity.
- Interrupted meetings 33%
- Time to settle back to work 32%
- Re-starting production processes 27%
- Security checks 25%
- Staff leaving assembly point 11%
- Restarting food prep 10%
Every one of our guests had to leave the building, this completely ruined their experience at our hotel. Hotelier
Teaching was disrupted, pupils and staff had to leave building, then there is the time it took to settle the children back down once we were allowed back in... Head Teacher
The unplanned alarm interrupted the day's work and I had to call out our on-call electricians to come and fix the alarm, which had also knocked out the emergency lighting. Business Owner
Half of respondents said seeing the alarm in action reassured them that the system works, however the research uncovered that 56% of business owners or managers said that excessive false alarms mean that their teams don’t take the alarms seriously enough, leading to alarm fatigue and complacency from staff.
The number of false alarms experienced by those interviewed may suggest that these buildings are not fitted with fire systems that include true multi-sensor devices. Multi-sensors are devices which monitor for more than one physical and/or chemical phenomenon associated with fire as defined by the British Standard for fire system design BS 5839Part 1.
According to research by the Fire Industry Association and Building Research Establishment, proven to significantly reduce false alarms triggered by factors that are not a genuine fire. For businesses who are based in multi-use buildings, or public facing such as hospitality and retail outlets, where whole fire detection systems are shared, false alarms can be a regular occurrence, and are likely to benefit greatly from the installation of these types of devices.
True Multi-Sensors are recommended by the FIA and BRE to help reduce false alarms
The Building Research Establishment (BRE) and The Fire Industry Association (FIA), through their combined research, proved that advanced multi-sensors which detect multiple criteria can outperform more basic models particularly in reducing false alarms.
In general, it was found that the more sophisticated the optical heat multi-sensors were, the less prone they were to common causes of false alarms, whilst their ability to detect real fires was not compromised. This research will most likely further the development of product standards and codes of practice for smoke and multi-sensor detectors.
World Class Multi-Sensors from Hochiki
ACC Multi-Sensor
An Intelligent loop-powered Multi-Sensor incorporating a thermal element and a High Performance photoelectric smoke chamber.
Has three modes controlled from the Control Panel, allowing either the optical or thermal element or both to be active in making the fire decision.
- User selectable modes of operation
- Incorporates Optical (Smoke) & Heat elements
- Removable, High Performance Smoke Chamber
- Twin LEDs allow 360 viewing – green when polling, turn red in fire
- Variable sensitivity
- Electronically addressed
- LPCB approved to EN54 Parts 5, 7 & 29
- Available in white, ivory and black
ACD Multi-Sensor with CO
An intelligent loop-powered Multi-Sensor, with smoke, heat and CO sensing elements which can operate individually or in various combinations to make a fire decision. The unit offers 24 EN-approved modes of operation and incorporates a smart algorithm which allows the sensor to learn from its environment and reduce false alarms.
The CO sensing element can be used to detect smoke as well as life-threatening CO levels in certain modes.
- 24 EN-Approved Modes of operation
- Incorporates Optical, Heat & CO elements
- Removable, High Performance Smoke Chamber
- Twin LEDs allow 360 viewing – green when polling, turn red in fire
- Variable sensitivity
- SMART algorithm to reduce false alarms
- Electronically Addressed
- LPCB approved to EN54 Parts 5, 7, 29, 30 & 31
- Available in white or ivory
Find out more about our range of Multi-Sensors
Watch the False Alarm Reduction Webinar
You can watch our webinar "False Alarm Reduction: A Guide to Improving Fire Detection System Performance" aimed at Building Owners, End Users, Installers and Specifiers to learn more about the impact of false alarms on businesses and how to take steps to reduce them.
Watch the ACD Product Spotlight Webinar
You can also watch our product spotlight webinar on our ACD Multi-Sensor with CO and learn how, with its integral false alarm reduction algorithms, it can adapt to any environment.