You can never have enough safety measures when it comes to fire hazards. The fire safety industry consistently upgrades and innovates, enabling us to discover new improvements and additions that prevent fire casualties.
If you seek to enhance the safety of your workplace or home, you can integrate different fire safety systems. However, fire alarm call points remain indispensable despite the advent of automated systems.
Here is a brief overview of manual call points and other relevant information to improve your fire hazard safety measures:
The Importance of Manual Call Points
A manual call point, or a fire call point, is a small box with either a lever or a button for you to press to ring an alarm. Often, it is protected by a plastic or glass casing that you break to trigger the alarm. They are also known as break-glass call points.
A manual call point is an integral part of the fire system because:
- It immediately rings an alarm and triggers beacons to alert everyone nearby.
- If the automated system fails, manual call points can help trigger it.
- It manually activates fire-related safety doors, sprinklers, and other systems.
- The fire department will receive an update on the hazard from the call point.
Fire isn’t the only hazard. Other potential dangers may include gas leaks or earthquakes. You can immediately activate the manual call points to warn everyone in these emergencies.
Installation Guide For Manual Call Points
The Regulation Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 contains necessary information regarding installing and regulating fire safety systems. According to the regulations, all buildings, including offices, malls, theatres, apartments, and institutes, should have fire alarms and safety systems.
The installation guidelines for manual call points are:
- They should be installed near Fire Exits or Escape points.
- The distance from the escape route to the call point can’t exceed 30 meters.
- It shouldn’t be installed higher than 1.4 meters from the floor.
- It should be at a highly visible and accessible location.
- Each floor of the building should have a manual call point.
The manual call points should be the respective color according to their purpose. Proper signs should be posted for call points and other fire safety equipment.
Color Differentiation of Manual Call Points
Manual call points are available in three colors. Each color has a specific function that one should be aware of:
White Manual Call Point
White manual call points are not allowed for fire safety systems or to contact the fire department. However, they can have any other purpose. You can assign a custom protocol for the white manual call points, such as ringing alarms, shutting doors, or something else. White manual call points are highly customizable and always have a sign to inform of their function.
Green Manual Call Point
Green call points are quite common and often found near escape routes or fire doors. These activate the fire doors and release the lock to escape the hazard.
Red Manual Call Point
Red fire call points are prevalent for multiple fire safety tasks. They trigger the alarm and notify the control panel and the fire department. Often, red call points also have triggers to activate fire systems, sprinklers, and other necessary functions during the hazard.
The Necessity of Safety Inspection
Manual call points require safety inspection to ensure their functionality. There can be a rotational inspection weekly or monthly for the call points. However, you can hire a professional to conduct daily visual inspections to ensure optimum functionality in all the call points. Workplaces require diligent and meticulous inspection to analyze any potential hazard and mitigate it.