KwikHEAT - Practical Facilities Management

32health & safety: fire safetySilence is golden withnew WAGNER ASD unitsWAGNER UK has launched a newrange of silent-running airsampling smoke detection units as partof its popular TITANUS® family.The new units are fitted with high-performance fansand additional sound-proofing to produce a totallysilent running system for applications such asdomestic premises and offices where ambientbackground noise is low. The new silent-runningversions are available for both the TITANUS®TOP·SENS® and TITANUS® PRO·SENS®systems.The TITANUS® range has been developed byM J Quinn maintainsLondon Underground’sfire safetyUnder a comprehensivefive-year contract withTube Lines Limited, M JQuinn Integrated ServicesLtd is shouldering the entirefire safety maintenanceburden for a major part of theLondon Undergroundnetwork. The contractcovers the Jubilee, Northernand Piccadilly lines.The contract involves 147 separatesites and in excess of 18,500individual pieces of fire detection, firealarm and firefighting equipment.M J Quinn’s response time is set atbeing within one-and-a-half hours forany non-station-closure incident, whilecomponent or system faults that mayresult in the need to close the stationare dealt with immediately. This hasresulted in the cost of station closuresfalling from previous levels that werein excess of £100,000 a year to lessthan £2,000 a year.To manage the maintenancechallenges, M J Quinn is utilising itsspecially-enhanced, computer-basedQu-Trak planning software programmeto support the 24/7 service call deskthat the company set up for the TubeLines Limited contract. This is used toWAGNER as a simple and low cost air samplingsystem replacement for point smoke detectors. Thecombination of silent-running and the use of discreetsampling points completely minimises the impact onthe interior environment of a building and producesa more aesthetically attractive solution compared totraditional point smoke detectors. In contrast totraditional smoke detection systems, TITANUS®ASD systems can detect fires at a very early stage,often before visible smouldering, or an open fireoccurs and before intense smoke develops.As well as applications where aesthetics areimportant, TITANUS® ASD can provide significantbenefits for buildings with large open spaces, inareas where future access is likely to be a problem(in voids, shafts, locked rooms, etc) or where theenvironment is too harsh for traditional smokedetectors.TOP·SENS® and PRO·SENS®, like other ASD unitsin the TITANUS® range, incorporate PIPE·GUARDand LOGIC·SENS. PIPE-GUARD is a uniquemonitoring system that detects if a sampling hole isblocked, a pipe is ruptured or if the air sampling unithas failed. This feature is vital in areas whereaccess is restricted and identification of individuallyblocked sampling points is essential. LOGIC·SENSis an advanced signal processing technology thatanalyses the smoke sample and provides theearliest possible smoke detection whilst safelyeliminating false alarms such as cigarette smokeand diesel fumes. Reader Reply No: 111098generate the daily reports required byTube Lines Limited, providing thecompany with an accurate overview ofthe maintenance work undertaken onits behalf. Qu-Trak also forms thebasis of asset verification andcondition checking procedures; andproduces the KPI – Key PerformanceIndicator – data that is part of the M JQuinn / Tube Lines Limited quarterlyreviews. Qu-Trak also provides acomplete and reliable audit trail of allmaintenance activity.These Key Performance Indicatorscover several critical aspects of thecontract, including: performanceconsiderations; health & safetymatters; technical issues; faultrectification; execution; and plannedpreventative maintenance.Reader Reply no: 111101Fire Safety needn’tbe a roller-coasterAmidst the hustle,bustle andbright lights of theAmusement Park,fire safety isprobably not thefirst thing thatsprings to mind.A popular AmusementPark in Portrush, NorthernIreland, has selectedAirSense Technology,manufacturer of theStratos-HSSD® (highsensitivity smoke detection) systems,to protect the park and its visitors.Barry’s Amusement Park has beenoperating for over a century, longenough for grandparents, parents andtheir children to have paid a visit. Toensure it remains an attraction for thenext generation, MaintenanceManager, Alister Colgan,commissioned refurbishment work inthe winter of 2007. As part of thisrefurbishment programme, Alistersought the expertise of Fire NI, acompany that provides integrated firesolutions, to help bring the fire safetymeasures of the park up-to-date.Tom Skates, Partner of Fire NI,employed AirSense Technology’sStratos-HSSD® detectors to provideprotection for the majority of the park,Mini Switch Monitorideal for limited spacesMeasuring just 39mm x 39mm x20mm, the new Mini SwitchMonitor from Apollo Fire Detectors is aminiature interface with an entirely newhousing ideal for installation inequipment with limited spaces.It can also be mountedwithin enclosuressuch asmanual callpoints.The unit isdesigned to monitorthe state of one ormore single-pole, voltfreecontacts andreports the contact statusto Apollo-compatiblecontrol panels. It can also be fitted onto a standard35mm DIN-rail using a twist and click motion(patent applied for) and has a short-circuit isolatoras standard.The Mini Switch Monitor can be used as either aninterrupt or non-interrupt device, the formermeaning it can be used where a priority responseis required - in particular for monitoring either anindividual or a zone of conventional manual callpoints. As well as ‘normal’, ‘fault’ and ‘alarm’ states,the unit also provides a ‘pre-alarm’ state, allowingthe investigation of a potential alarm so as toprevent false alarms from occurring.Reader Reply No: 111058with analogue addressable ‘point’detectors installed in the remainingareas.Sampling pipes were installedthroughout the roof voids allowing theuse of remote sampling points, with10mm diameter capillary tubessecured at the desired locations usingfixings for discreet detection.AirSense Technology’s patentedStratos-HSSD® system overcomesthe problem of fluctuating smokelevels by its highly innovative feature –ClassiFire®, which is a system ofperceptive Artificial Intelligence (AI)that allows the Stratos system tocontinuously adapt to changingambient smoke levels in theenvironment.Reader Reply No: 111116