INTERNATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION 23
O
ver time major advances in fire safety began
to blossom, the 15th and 16th centuries
introduced the first Acts of Parliament
relating to fire, and the first automatic electric fire
alarm was invented by Francis Robbins Upton and
Fernando J. Dibble in 1890, a major break
through.
Developments through-out time have meant
that there is now an extensive range of fire safety
products available to the public including
sounders, beacons, door retainers, call points and
items for hazardous areas. The versatility of these
products ensures all requirements are catered for
within various facilities, be it land based, off shore
or ships. Owners of any structure are those who
are responsible for ensuring that the fire code is
kept up to date and abided by; this is typically
enforced by fire officers and fire departments, but
is force-able by law also.
Installing an alerting method in any structure is
an absolute essential; options vary from audible
alerting to visual alerting to tactile stimulation,
with assorted choices in each spectrum.
The most common installation choice is an
audible alert, most commonly referred to as a
sounder. It is, however, advisable to bear in mind
that both visual alert and tactile stimulation will
help maintain a compliancy with the Disability
Discrimination Act, which was first published in
1995, became law on 17th May 1996 and was
updated in 2005.
Sounders are available in various styles including
voice sounders, platform sounders, sounder beacons
and standard sounders. These all function in the
same way, with the same desired effect, but their
varying form of alerting methods makes them
unique to each other.
Voice sounders are ideal if it is crucial to give
By Charlotte Philo
of Cranford Controls Ltd
Sounder
Warnings
Since the dawn of time, geographical, social and cultural developments have
moulded the way society has had to grow and be governed. Every item and
every law that we encounter each day has matured from what may have once
been considered as an insignificant passing comment. Fire safety, a some what
essential part to human survival, is in no way an exception to this. 1066 saw the
first documented reference to fire safety in England by William the Conqueror
where he instructed his soldiers to cover and damp down campfires before
retiring to bed in a bid to avoid embers being blown into tents. This school of
thought spread and, when cities started developing, being filled with wooden
thatched houses, became a necessary precaution.
SOUNDER ALERTS
Installing an alerting method in any structure is an
absolute essential; options vary from audible alerting to
visual alerting to tactile stimulation, with assorted
choices in each spectrum.

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