In the next five years, around 541 new high-rise buildings will be constructed in London, but with these developments comes a large amount of risk for employees including the breakout of fires and managing those fire risks.
Bradley Markham, director at Bull Products, believes that construction companies and employees must be aware of the fire risks of working on high-rise buildings, and more importantly, implement fire safety solutions such as wireless fire alarm systems to ensure health and safety isn’t compromised.
Over the last few years, we have no doubt seen a major rise in the construction of high-rise buildings, from office developments to living spaces – but an increase in high-rise developments presents its challenges too.
There are around 11 construction fires every day – it may seem like a small number, but in reality, that’s potentially hundreds of workers’ lives that are at risk every day.
One of the major challenges during the construction of high-rise buildings is the number of workers on site at one time. With more people to be accountable for, site managers must ensure that they have an efficient alarm system that can be sounded throughout the building during construction, ensuring workers at all levels can evacuate the site safely in the event of an emergency.
Another challenge is the time in which workers take to respond in order to evacuate the building. In a recent report, researchers from the University of Greenwich found that a third of construction site workers who took part in evacuation trials took almost six minutes to respond to an alarm during high-rise construction. These six minutes could be the difference between life and death – so, how can we overcome these challenges and maximise fire safety on site?
Overcoming challenges to maximise high-rise safety
- Investing in fire alarms – As sites grow, the need for fire safety becomes even more crucial. This is certainly the case for high-rise buildings where workers could be located on different floors and need to be able to quickly alert others if there’s a fire.
- Evacuation trials – By carrying out evacuation trials rather than drills, workers can be put to test in more realistic situations, allowing them to respond and prepare as if it were a real-life emergency.
- Training – Thorough training is vital to ensure workers are aware of how to respond if a fire was to break out, how to alert others in an emergency and the steps they need to take to prevent a fire in the first place.
Revolutionising fire safety with wireless alarm systems
Fires and injuries are a real and ongoing risk, and health and safety managers need to be aware of new and innovative ways of safeguarding workers.
Wireless alarm systems provide the ideal solution for high-rise buildings, as they can be connected to multiple buildings or levels, without the worry of hazardous cables and wires.
Providing comprehensive fire safety protection through a fully linked network of detectors and call points, wireless fire alarms provide the most effective and safest solution for construction sites and workers.
For more information, contact Bull on 01432 371170, visit www.bullproducts.co.uk or email [email protected]