News
Wake up call to hoteliers! New reports highlight hotel wedged fire door danger.
Latest fire statistics show that in the last decade there have been an average of
2,500 fires recorded in hotels and boarding houses every year. That’s virtually 50 fires a week! There are 33,000 hotels in the UK, so that means your hotel has a 1 in 13 chance of a fire outbreak this year.
And the latest figures released on insurance claims graphically illustrate how devastating the economic impact of a major fire can be. Record levels of insurance claims for fire-damaged properties in the UK are hitting the £2 million a day mark in claims, according to the latest figures from the ABI (Association of British Insurers). So last year’s fire damage and business interruption costs are likely to again total over £1 billion per annum. In short, the social infrastructure is literally going up in smoke, as the ABI reports, with fire ‘increasingly putting jobs and services at risk.’
Royal Sun Alliance emphasises: ‘It is not just life safety that’s at risk: even the smallest, rapidly extinguished fire, will produce large volumes of contaminating smoke, which can threaten the survival of a business by ruining stock and machinery, destroying sensitive IT equipment and valuable data.’
Kick the wedged fire door habit!
One potentially life-threatening hazard has recently been highlighted in a major survey of UK fire risk assessors conducted by Fireco, manufacturers of Dorgard, which revealed nearly 70% of workplaces audited for fire risk were illegally wedging open fire doors. In a real fire emergency a wedged open door will allow smoke and flames to spread rapidly with the risk of life-threatening injuries.
This malpractice is highly dangerous yet, ironically often the result of a desire to ease access for guests and staff, particularly fire doors in busy corridors.
A spokesperson for Norwich Union added: ‘Our risk assessors continue to report the illegal wedging open fire doors in breach of a property’s fire safety design and fire regulations. It’s important that managers carrying out fire risk assessments should make sure that all fire doors are properly maintained and that adequate staff training is provided to ensure they are not wedged open.’
Yet there are simple, recognised cost-efficient solutions such as wireless release mechanisms for fire doors that can so easily eliminate this hazard, allowing a fire door to be retained open safely, using 'listening' technology that avoids costly disruption during installation.
One example of this is Fireco’s Dorgard range; Dorgard is the wireless solution that offers the simplest, most cost-effective way of legally holding open fire doors safely in any position, automatically releasing them should the fire alarm sound. Dorgard also offers significant cost advantages as it can be fitted in minutes, with no wiring required.
With over 275,000 Dorgards installed across the UK, the Dorgard range is the solution to the illegally wedged open fire door problem, in any environment. Dorgard complies fully with all relevant British Standards and EU Directives.
For more information contact Fireco on 0845 241 7474, e-mail sales@firecoltd.com or visit www.firecoltd.com