Fires can happen at almost any time, which is why it is even more critical to ensure that your commercial fire alarms have been properly inspected.
As we venture further into the summer, temperatures on the East Coast are only bound to go higher and higher. Any heat wave can be uncomfortable for you and your employees, but depending on what substances your company is engaged in working with, all of that heat could present a possible fire hazard. Fires can happen at almost any time, which is why it is even more critical to ensure that your commercial fire alarms have been properly inspected.
Testing the Fire Alarms
Before you can know if anything is wrong, you need to test the fire alarms. Announcing that the fire alarms are only being tested is important because you don’t want to cause your employees any undue panic. If too many false alarms happen, then they might disregard the alarm sounding even if an actual fire emergency is taking place. Aside from the fire alarms themselves, the controls must be tested as well. Audiovisual signals emitted by the alarms are essential for keeping everyone safe, so these must be tested to ensure they are sufficiently loud enough to be heard by everyone in the building.
Inspecting the Fire Alarms
If something is wrong with the fire alarms, then the next step is to call for further investigation. An inspection can determine what the problem is, along with detecting other issues that you may have missed already. The fuses connecting the different components must be inspected, along with signal lights and the power for each part to ensure that one component failure will not prevent the entire system from activating whenever necessary.
Any battery-powered fire alarms might be checked also, to verify that the batteries are still in good condition and aren’t leaking fluids that can degrade the entire system over time. These inspections must happen every month, or at the latest, every six months. Likewise, ductwork, smoke detectors, and heat sensors need to be properly inspected as well – each of these components could help prevent the spread of a fire even if a fire breaks out without your knowledge.
Maintaining the Fire Alarms
Ultimately, properly-inspected commercial fire alarms are well-maintained ones. Problems revealed by these inspections must be addressed as soon as the issues are diagnosed so as to prevent them from deteriorating. Cleaning and maintenance schedules will differ, however, based on where the fire alarm systems are placed, what types of fire they are intended to monitor and protect against, and recommendations by the fire alarm manufacturers.
Trust the Professionals at ARK Systems
Located in Columbia, Maryland, ARK Systems provides unsurpassed quality and excellence in the security industry, from system design all the way through to installation. We handle all aspects of security with local and remote locations. With over 30 years in the industry, ARK Systems is an experienced security contractor. Trust ARK to handle your most sensitive data storage, surveillance, and security solutions.
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