The saying “Prevention is Better Than Cure” not only applies to health issues. This saying simply means that it is always better to stop something from taking place or avoiding something to happen in the first place rather than dealing later with damages or consequences.
With a fire alarm system in place at home or in buildings, you can feel more secure knowing that accidents and emergency situations may emerge anytime and that it can be detected early. Fire alarms are made to detect the presence of smoke and alert us before an actual fire occurs so that we can take action, prevent the fire from happening by alerting us as to its purpose. This smart device scales up your chances of surviving a fire incident and protects you, your family or building occupants from injuries that you may sustain from a fire outrage.
To be able serve its purpose, a fire alarm system must adhere to the following standard:
Fire Alarms Do’s and Don’ts
Fire alarms including the smoke detectors serves as your first line of defense against potential fire outrage and its aftermath. That is why it is important that the following be done by building occupants and/or homeowners:
- Have your fire alarm system regularly inspected and tested by authorized fire experts and as according to your local, state and federal fire alarm regulations. It should be given emphasis that you hire a fire protection contractor with the correct license required. You should verify your contractor’s license to also ensure that you will not be fined by hiring an incorrect contractor.
- Ensure that you test your smoke detectors monthly, including its batteries ensuring that it is not dead or that the unit is not faulty. Smoke detectors, battery-operated or AC powered, have a test button.When this test button is pushed it makes the alarm sound. By checking this button regularly, you can be sure that your smoke detector is working and that the battery is not dead. The batteries must be changed at least once or twice a year to ensure that it will function in case an actual fire occurs.
- When to replace your smoke detector? The general rule is that smoke detectors should be replaced every ten years. The life span of the sensors in a smoke detector is short, its quality degrades and eventually becomes ineffective over time. So it is important that you remember the manufacturing date of your smoke detector and when you installed them.
- You can clean a smoke detector, remove dusts and cobwebs from it using a vacuum cleaner attachment. Be very careful in cleaning the smoke detector to make sure that you do not damage it. Use of chemicals is not recommended as it can damage the circuit board, you can also use a microfiber cloth to wipe the outside of a smoke detector. It is highly recommended that cleaning of smoke detectors be done every six months.
- Secure every documentation that comes with your fire alarm system. That includes papers for every maintenance, test or repair and operational manuals. These records will come in handy when you need a guide about your fire alarm system.
Wrapping Up
Fire alarm system is a reasonable way of securing your family, customers and employees rather than face a horrendous incident in case a fire incident happens at home or at work. It is also important that every family member, building occupant and employee are well trained and informed about how fire alarm systems work. If there is an emergency exit in the workplace area, there should also be an escape plan/route at home. Safety of everyone must not only depend on devices that alarms us when there is an emergency, it is imperative that everyone knows what to do to also protect and save themselves.