London Fire Brigade to end their response to automatic fire alarms: how could it impact your business?

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) have recently announced that, as of 29th October 2024, they will no longer respond automatically to fire alarms at a number of commercial properties, between the hours of 7:00am and 8:30pm. These changes in protocols align with 38 other Fire and Rescue Services from across the UK¹, who will only attend automatic fire alarms once a fire has been confirmed.

These changes will undoubtedly have a positive impact in freeing up firefighters to attend genuine emergencies, however, the new procedures could delay the LFB’s response and increase the potential for significant fire damage. It is therefore important for businesses to review their fire risk assessments and risk management strategies in light of this new protocol.

Is your commercial building exempt?

Whilst these changes will affect office blocks or industrial estates, this new policy will not apply to all commercial buildings – schools and residential buildings are just some that are exempt. To find out whether your commercial property is affected by this new procedure, take a look at the LFB's exemption policy here².

Six fire risk management measures to consider

With the LFB being the latest Fire and Rescue Service to implement these changes, it is a good opportunity for all companies, no matter where they are located in the UK, to review their approach to fire risk management and prevention. Below are some of the key measures to consider implementing:

1. Review and revise your Fire Risk Assessments
   Conduct a comprehensive review of your current Fire Risk Assessments, evaluating your existing fire safety measures and updating them to ensure they account for new protocols.
   
   
2. Update your fire safety plans
   Make any changes needed to the process for reporting confirmed fires between 7:00am and 8:30pm. This will help ensure that real fire incidents are promptly communicated to the emergency services, helping to minimise delays in response and any potential damage. Any updated plans should be clearly communicated to staff, including everyone’s roles and responsibilities in the event of a fire, to ensure they know the appropriate actions to take.
   
   
3. Enhance your property’s Fire Detection Systems
   As previously mentioned, consider upgrading your existing Automatic Fire Detection (AFD) systems to incorporate advanced technologies such as double knock, multi-sensing detectors, or other systems that require multiple triggers to confirm a fire activation. These upgrades help reduce the occurrence of false alarms and ensure that only genuine fire incidents trigger a response.

4. Implement a structured process for company keyholders
   It is important to establish a robust keyholder confirmation process to verify any AFD activations, particularly outside regular business hours. When designating responsibility amongst your staff, consider choosing colleagues who can quickly respond to alarm activations, ideally within 10-20 minutes of them going off, to verify the situation.

5. Provide comprehensive staff training
   Invest in thorough training for all members of staff, focusing on the procedures that follow after an AFD has been activated. Training should also cover how to safely and effectively investigate potential fire incidents, use firefighting equipment, and how to evacuate the premises if necessary. Educating staff on these protocols enhances their ability to handle fire emergencies.

6. Revise your Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) rules
   Update your ARC protocols to avoid the Fire and Rescue Services being automatically notified when an alarm goes off. Instead, implement a system where they are only notified after they have received secondary confirmation. This can be achieved through additional detector activations, or verification by a designated keyholder.

Here to help

We encourage you to consider implementing the above measures, so that your business can be better prepared for when these changes come into effect from 29th October 2024, and so that you maintain a high level of fire safety within your organisation.

If you are concerned about how these changes may impact your business, get in touch with a member of our specialist team on 020 7977 4800 or email srisenquiries@specialistrisk.com

Article sources:

1: RiskSTOP, July 2024 | Fire Brigade End Automatic Alarm Response | Fire Brigade End Automatic Alarm Response (riskstop.co.uk)

2: London Fire Brigade, July 2024 | Automatic fire alarms policy: exemptions list | AFA Exemptions | London Fire Brigade (london-fire.gov.uk)