SOUNDERS & BEACONS
Are you ready for BS EN54-23? Leanne Danby Cooper Fulleon
ASIA PACIFIC FIRE
Normal hearing is taken for granted by most of us, but there are estimated to be nearly nine million people who are deaf or hard of hearing in the UK alone, equivalent to one person in every seven.
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or the deaf or hard of hearing, reliance on audible alarms in the event of a fire is ineffective. In addition, increased concerns over health and safety are encouraging the greater use of ear defenders in the work place and so there is a sizeable contingent of people who work in environments where alarm sounders are unlikely to be heard. To overcome these issues, signalling needs to be broadened to stimulate senses other than hearing. Supplementing audible alarms with visual alarm devices (VADs) is an effective way to warn people in or around a building of the occurrence of a fire emergency so they can take appropriate action. Over recent years, the installation of VADs has experienced considerable growth and this trend continues due to the influence of the equality legislation and their suitability for various applications including staff-restricted warning systems, (such as nursing homes and public assembly buildings), broadcast studios and hospital operating theatres. Current UK building regulations and BS 8300, Design of buildings and their approaches to meet
the needs of disabled people, recommends that a VAD is sited in any area where a deaf or hard of hearing person may be left alone, for example, toilets or bedrooms. This, alongside the rising awareness of equality legislation highlights the increasing importance of the industry being vigilant in designing fire systems with the deaf and hard of hearing in mind.
BS EN54-23 Up until May 2010, there was no fire industry standard in the UK that determined the light output performance criteria and installation requirements of visual alarm devices. This gave rise to manufacturers specifying the performance of their products in an inconsistent, confusing and often misleading way. The use of Joules, Watts and Candela to specify a VADs performance are all largely meaningless, as they do not take into account the effectiveness of the light signal over a given area. Now this has been rectified with the release of standard BS EN54-23: Fire alarm devices – Visual alarm devices. BS EN54-23 specifies the requirements, test 65