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Every hotel or motel should have a focus on the fire protection and safety regulations that apply to the accomodation industry. Hotel fires present a substantial risk to the people inside. Downtime due to fire can be a possible major potential loss for your building and disruption to your business.
One major issue is that the majority of occupants will not be familiar with their surroundings. Your guest may only be with you one night, certainly not enough to learn all the fire way-finding that they may need in the rare emergency event. It is very unlikely that they will have the luxury of participating in a fire drill!
To protect your guests, employees, staff, and the investment in your premises, it is crucial to be up-to-date on the latest safety codes and requirements. This page provides an overview of hotel motel fire protection and the most important fire safety precautions.
You must ensure to install both active and passive fire protection system during construction and that it remains in good working order.
Active fire protection systems include:
This equipment needs triggering by smoke or actual flames to activate.
On the other hand, passive fire prevention refers to fire doors and fireproofed stairs. They are part of the building structure and work instantly to prevent fire from spreading, or compromising the structure of the building.
A qualified fire prevention expert should inspect fire protection systems at least once per year to function correctly.
It is also vital that all staff are familiar with the fire safety standards and how each system works in case of emergency to act fast. Regular fire safety training is also essential.
During the construction of your hotel or motel, you must ensure that fire safety is a key consideration.
Passive fire protection or fire stoppers are construction measures that you take to either stop a fire starting or stopping it from spreading. See our passive fire protection page for more information.
Here are the passive fire safety elements to consider:
It is essential to fireproof your stairs to prevent fire from travelling up the stairwell.
Fire-resistant stairs significantly reduce fire damage, reduce repair costs and prevent injuries or death that a fire can cause.
A fire door is an integral part of any hotel’s safety hardware. They are fire resistant doors that still allow for an easy escape upon opening.
Fire curtains and walls work by limiting the spread of a fire.
Fire sprinklers may extinguish or limit a fire through a water spray triggered by heat. They do not usually activate through smoke detection.
A fire or smoke alarm system is mandatory for almost every building with public access. A fire alarm notifies everyone inside when there has been a fire. The necessary steps are then either to evacuate safely or take measures to extinguish it.
Traditionally, fire alarms have manual pull stations next to doors people can raise the alarm and get help quickly. However, some modern systems use sensors.
The fire blanket is a fire safety item found in hotel guest rooms and also in functional rooms such as kitchens. It must be fire-retarding and easily accessible to employees and guests.
A fire blanket’s purpose is to smother small fires, such as those caused by faulty electrical appliances or in cooking. You can also use them to wrap around people if their clothes catch on fire.
A fire extinguisher provides temporary protection against small fires. It is vital to have portable fire extinguishers in easy-to-reach locations. However, they must also be out of the way so that they do not get knocked over accidentally.
Once a hotel is occupied, you must conduct a statutory fire risk assessments inside and outside the building to identify the potential causes of fire. These ensure that you are in compliance and allow you to address the hazards and ensure your guests, employees, and property are safe.
The law says that fire safety evacuation diagrams and maps need to be throughout your hotel or motel to allow guests to see the fire safety plan in case of fire easily. The hotel owner has to post maps for all designated fire escape routes. These maps must appear in all guest rooms, corridors, and exit or entrance These maps should be next to smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, and fire doors. Each location where there is a fire safety element should have a map nearby so guests can find their way out safely.
The fire safety map should include an evacuation plan, outline all possible escape routes, and include valuable building information, such as stairwells covered by fire curtains. Our sister company, Safety Maps specializes in evac diagrams.
For hotels where guests will be sleeping or gathering for many hours, it is essential to ensure fire safety measures are in place to prevent fire from trapping guests inside.
This includes fire doors that close automatically and fire alarm systems with manual pull stations that people can use easily even if the building or guest room is dark or smoke-filled.
It is also necessary to make sure fire extinguishers are nearby, and fireproofed stairs help guests escape quickly if necessary.
Remember, early fire detection and prevention is always better than cure. Ensure your building has the necessary hotel fire safety systems and follow through with regular fire safety checks.
Rely on Redmen to customise a solution to meet your needs. Whether it is at one site or multiple locations, we have the capabilities to offer you a full suite of site Fire Protection Maintenance management solutions of your systems and assets. Redmen covers all technical services including fire protection inspection, testing, preventative maintenance and reactive maintenance, and staff evacuation preparedness.
You should consider our Comprehensive Maintenance Program.
We will proactively maintain your Fire Protection Systems and Equipment and conduct annual audits (AFSA) to benchmark the performance of your assets, and ultimately provide an Annual Fire Safety Statement (AFSS). Our team of qualified technicians will work to prolong the life of your critical equipment and to ensure you have fewer unplanned maintenance events.
As a client of Redmen, we take the time to understand your needs and will work with you to build a Fire Protection CMP solution that will meet your operating and budgetary requirements, whilst complying with Australian Standards and our industry’s Code of Practice.
We also offer you the convenience of a single point of contact, through a trained dedicated Key Account Manager
Our preventative fire protection maintenance programs are designed to maximise performance and reliability, while minimising disruption and running costs.
You will be flying “first class” whenever you receive fire protection service or repair.
Having fire protection systems and equipment taken care of, preserving manufacturer’s warranties on major component failures.
Knowing that your fire protection systems and equipment are operating safely and efficiently.
We shall attend site and undertake a fire protection compliance audit and report results.
We employ highly trained and trade certified fire protection technicians.
Keeping fire systems and equipment operating 100% of the time is our constant objective.
The fast Preventative and Reactive Maintenance, ensure continued maintenance in accordance with Australian Standards.
All PM and RM is reported electronically and placed automatically onto the Redmen Client Website Portal.
Redmen provides a fire protection maintenance matrix, which includes maintenance frequency checklists, and the maintenance summary via a Fire Protection Outstanding Works Status.
