London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/27/2012 -- Over the past four years, the London Fire Brigade has managed to save a total of £9m, after the number of false call-outs attended by crews dropped significantly. A spokesperson said that the amount of calls has dropped from 48,771 in 2008, to 40,374 in 2011. The calls are usually triggered by faulty automatic alarm systems. However, there are still crews being called out to false or hoax calls every ten minutes, which costs the Fire Brigade around £37m a year. SSC Marketing expressed shock at the statistic, adding, “It’s amazing that so many companies are not maintaining their safety systems properly. It’s so important, and as this shows, not just for the safety of people within the company.”
The London Fire Brigade commented on the types of false call-outs they usually had to deal with, nothing that automated alarm systems are often set off by faulty alarms or by burnt toast or cigarette smoke. The Brigade also deals with other types of false calls including “malicious hoax calls” and false alarms raised with “good intent.” In 2011, fire crews attended 2,149 “malicious hoax calls”, and 12,769 “good intent” calls, which were found to be false alarms. A SSC Marketing representative commented: “There is a very real danger of these false alarms affecting the availability of crews, when a real emergency is happening.”
The recent savings are due to a 15% overall drop in false alarms, triggered by automatic systems, which are commonly found in office buildings, hotels, and public buildings such as hospitals, airports and universities. King’s College London boasted the biggest decrease overall, with call-outs in the area falling by 44% since 2007. This is mostly due to improvements in student housing.
Councilor Brian Coleman, chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, said: "Businesses need to make sure their alarms are properly maintained so our firefighters can focus on attending real emergencies." A source at SSC Marketing strongly agreed, adding, “It’s such a small thing to keep these systems regularly checked and maintained, that it really shouldn’t be such a large issue. Business owners have a real responsibility here.”
SSC Marketing is a London-based specialized marketing company, which has seen incredible growth over the past year. They are passionate about high standards in the workplace, including safety.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16803520