It is estimated that 541 new high-rise buildings will be built in London within the next five years. Concerns have also been raised about the risk construction workers might face in the event of a fire breaking out in a high-rise building.
One of the major challenges during the construction of high-rise buildings is the number of workers on site at one time. With more people to be accountable for, site managers must ensure that they have an efficient alarm system that can be sounded throughout the building during construction, ensuring workers at all levels can evacuate the site safely in the event of an emergency.
According to The Fire Safety Advice Centre, there are around 11 construction fires every day. Though the percentage is not high, within construction sites there are potentially hundreds of workers who are at risk every day.
Response time for evacuation is also another challenge construction companies face in the event of a fire on site. Research conducted by the University of Greenwich found that a third of construction site workers who took part in evacuation trials took almost six minutes to respond to an alarm during high-rise construction
Six minutes could be a long time period to evacuate a building, which could lead to serious injuries or death of employees. There are many solutions to reduce the risk of this for example:
Director of Bull Products, Bradley Markham, says that implementing fire safety solutions, such as wireless fire alarm systems, to ensure health and safety isn’t compromised is crucial in a high-rise building.
He also believes that construction companies and employees must be aware of the fire risks of working on high-rise buildings before starting a project.
Fires and injuries are a real and ongoing risk, and health and safety managers need to be aware of new and innovative ways of safeguarding workers.
Wireless alarm systems provide the ideal solution for high-rise buildings, as they can be connected to multiple buildings or levels, without the worry of hazardous cables and wires.
Providing comprehensive fire safety protection through a fully linked network of detectors and call points, wireless fire alarms provide the most effective and safest solution for construction sites and workers.
