Important UK hospital installs 150,000m of low fire-hazard cable
2010-11-23 - Providing critical life and property protection, the Whiston Hospital in Merseyside, UK
has used 150,000m of low fire-hazard cable in the installation of the all-important fire
detection and alarm system.
British Standard compliant and third party approved, this cable will supply dependable circuit integrity and reduce smoke and harmful emissions in the event of a fire.
With healthcare projects, particular care needs to be taken to ensure that bed-ridden patients can be evacuated in a building emergency - such as a fire. The Whiston Hospital is spread over five floors, making horizontal evacuation protocol impracticableon the upper floors. It is therefore essential that superior-quality enhanced cable be used, as most deaths in a fire occur through inhaling toxic gases. It is crucial to reduce the exposure time to such gases by safe evacuation with the best possible visibility as easy as possible.
If a fire occurs, these cables will produce less smoke and other harmful emissions than conventional cables. The contribution of a material to a fire - including that of the cable's own construction - is the reaction to it as measured by smoke opacity, hazardous gas emission, heat release and flaming droplets. For optimum safety, it is essential that the production of opaque smoke and other such harmful emissions is, kept as low as possible during a fire, so that building occupants can escape quickly, and safely along designated exit paths. The low fire-hazard cables chosen for the, Whiston Hospital provide the required reaction to fire.
These cables also satisfy the demanding testing protocol of BS 5839-1:2002+A2:2008 (Fire detection and fire alarm systems for buildings - Code of practice for system design, installation, commissioning and maintenance).
Manufactured to BS 7629-1:1997, the cable used is both tested and third-party approved by the Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB) in the UK and by the British Approvals Service for Cables (BASEC).
This £338m hospital construction project is, at 80,000m2 new build and 12,500m2 of refurbishment, the largest single healthcare investment in Merseyside since the UK's National Health Service was founded 60 years ago. The project involved the construction of new in-patient facilities including accident and emergency, diagnostic, radiology, theatres and 750 beds, together with the construction of a Diagnostic Treatment Centre at the nearby St Helens Hospital.