Reducing fire-related deaths

Reducing fire-related deaths may be as simple as having working Smoke Alarms. Working Smoke Alarms in your home can decrease your chances of perishing in a fire by half. 

SMOKE ALARMS SAVE LIVES

If you have a fire in your home, in as little as 30 seconds a small flame can become a major fire that ravages a home and threatens lives. Smoke Alarms safeguard the lives of your family, they detect smoke well before any sleeping occupant would. They provide critical seconds to implement actions and get out of the property.

According to statistics, at least 70% of fire-related deaths occur in homes that either have no Smoke Alarms or the Smoke Alarms don’t work. The presence of a Smoke Alarm in your home can reduce the risk of dying in a fire by 50%.

The majority of homes today have had Smoke Alarms installed. Unfortunately too many homes have Smoke Alarms that just don’t work properly or simply do not work at all. Many fatalities occur, because a Smoke Alarm has been disconnected, is missing or has been poorly maintained.

SMOKE ALARM MAINTENANCE HELPS IN REDUCING FIRE-RELATED DEATHS

Check your Smoke Alarms are installed correctly, in good working order and regularly maintained. A working Smoke Alarm can mean the difference between life or death in many cases.

  • Always maintain your smoke alarms according to manufacturer’s instructions.
  • Test your smoke alarms once a week using the test button
  • Always follow manufacturer’s instruction in cleaning your Smoke Alarm
  • Educate your family on the importance of Smoke Alarms and how they work so they know how to respond. (and have/practice an escape plan)
  • Smoke Alarms with long life batteries are designed to remain effective within the duration indicated. Once the alarm sounds that the battery is low, you should replace the Smoke Alarm immediately. Smoke Alarms with any other type of battery need a new battery at least once a year. If the alarm sounds that the battery is low, replace it immediately.
  • Make sure you have a sufficient amount of Smoke Alarms in your home and they are located in the correct positions.

If you need assistance in checking if your Smoke Alarms are working properly, or you need help in replacing them, give us a call at 0508 766 532 or email info@sats.co.nz

 

Working from home

Working from home is the new reality for many of us as we learn to live with COVID. It’s important to do everything you can to make your home as safe as possible.

Working from home can pose many challenges for people. Whether it is working around home-schooling, partners also working from home or having to keep our fur babies off zoom, we can forget to make sure our homes are safe for us to work from.

So how do you make sure you are working safely from home?

IDENTIFY PHYSICAL HAZARDS

When working from home, identify and address physical hazards in the home office that may be caused by poor housekeeping and improper equipment.

  • Avoid conditions that create electrical hazards (e.g: computers and other equipment plugged into extension cords),
  • trip hazards (e.g: electrical wires scattered along walking paths),
  • blocked exit paths, and falling object hazards (e.g: overloaded book shelves)

SETUP YOUR WORKING FROM HOME OFFICE CORRECTLY

Help avoid sprains and strains by making sure you have the correct chair height and the chair supports your back. Have your mouse within easy reach and on the same surface as your keyboard.

ESTABLISH A WORK ROUTINE

To ensure that you still have a work life balance, you must establish reasonable boundaries between work and personal life by developing a work routine.

Avoid unnecessary and avoidable work-related communication outside regular working hours. You can also pre-plan and create variations in your work routine as well as substituting exercise for what was commute time.

FIRST AID

Keep a First Aid Kit in a safe, dry, easily accessible location. Some basic supplies may include: sterile eye dressings, crepe rolled bandages, band-aids of different sizes and shapes and antiseptic spray.

Another consideration is to take a first aid course, its always good to know what to do in an emergency!

FIRE SAFETY

  • Check and replace all damaged and frayed electrical cords on electrical equipment, including computers and laptops.
  • If you have pets in the house, make sure they can’t access the cords (so they can’t attempt to chew on them).
  • Make sure devices are charging on a safe surface and not under a pillow or in your bed.
  • Many house fires start in the kitchen, don’t leave stove-tops and other cooking appliances unattended.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY WHEN WORKING FROM HOME

Make sure you have a working Smoke Alarm! A Smoke Alarm can only save lives if they are present, properly maintained and in good working order. 

Also have a fire extinguisher and fire blanket in the house, they are essential for protecting your home against a fire.

If you need assistance in checking if your Smoke Alarms are in good working order , or you need help in replacing them, give us a call at 0508 766 532 or email info@sats.co.nz

Dead Air Space

Smoke Alarms are vital for your home. They are made to be installed on ceilings (and when necessary, on walls) to detect smoke. However, there are areas in your home where they should not be installed, in the dead air space.

When we are at sleep, our sense of smell is lost, which eliminates our capacity to detect smoke and early warning signs of fire. This means it’s vital that smoke alarms are installed strategically to give us enough time to get to safety. They should be placed in areas where the air is not blocked from circulating.

WHAT ARE DEAD AIR SPACES?

Dead air spaces are areas in a property that gets air trapped which stops smoke from moving into that area. When a Smoke Alarm is installed in this area, the smoke may not reach it and trigger the alarm.

In a fire, smoke travels by rolling up the surface of the walls within the property. If the smoke is rolling against a surface with a sharp corner, then the smoke will not roll through that corner. Instead, it will float within the pocket of trapped air, leaving the space after the sharp corner unable to detect smoke as it is stuck in an air bubble.

Generally, dead air spaces can be found in property spaces that contain cathedral ceilings, corner junctions between the wall and roof or between exposed floor joists.

That’s why when installing Smoke Alarms you need to know where to install them. They should be in a position where they can detect smoke before it crawls into a dead air space.

HOW TO AVOID DEAD AIR SPACES?

Since dead air spaces appear in the corner of rooms and between exposed roof beams, here are some places you need to avoid:

  • Corners of rooms
  • Near A/C vents, windows that open, and ceiling fans
  • Near warm areas of the property like bathrooms and saunas
Other areas that you should avoid when installing smoke alarms:
  • Anywhere within 1.5 meters of a fluorescent light as the electromagnetic interference may affect the smoke alarms
  • In the kitchen, since this is an area with constant heat and smoke

If the Smoke Alarms in your investment property happen to be located in dead air spaces you’re facing a big challenge. Contact SATS today to have you property professionally serviced.