How Long Do Fire Shutters Protect from Fire?

If you manage an industrial or commercial property, limiting the risk of fire will undoubtedly be one of your absolute top priorities.

A comprehensive fire risk management strategy requires every element and area of the building to be assessed. And, thankfully, there are a huge range of specialist solutions out there that can help you to keep the fire risk down to the bare minimum.

Fire shutters are one of the most effective safety investments that a site manager can make. But how exactly do they work? And, what specific fire safety benefits do they offer?

Fire shutters are made to protect from fire for at least 1 hour. There are different types of fire shutters that have fire protection ratings of 1 hour, 2 hours and 4 hours.

What are fire shutters?

Fire shutters are a specialist type of roller shutter door. Not only do they offer all the usual benefits of a roller shutter door, but they also provide premises with an extremely high level of protection against fires.

Unless there is a fire, fire shutters will perform exactly in the same way as conventional roller shutter doors.

But, if a fire does occur, fire shutters are activated. They work by either being linked directly to the building’s fire alarm system, or having their own in-built heat detection system (or both).

Then, if they detect a fire, the shutters are triggered to close and form a seal that is near air-tight. They do this automatically, so that no one has to risk their own safety by activating the doors manually.

Fire shutters act as a system, dividing the premises into a series of zones. They work to minimise the spread of the fire by isolating it in one zone, while still ensuring that people have a safe, clear evacuation route.

These doors are able to withstand fires for up to four hours, giving people within the building as much time to evacuate as possible, while protecting them from direct exposure to the fire.

In fact, in many cases, fire shutters are successfully able to isolate the fire until the emergency services arrive.

What are the main industries that require fire shutters?

Fire shutters are commonly deployed in a wide variety of industries, including:

• Manufacturing
• Factories
• Large kitchens
• Catering facilities
• Depots
• Residential buildings
• Waste management sites

What are the benefits of fire shutters?

Fire shutters have an extremely intuitive design, which enables sites to attain the highest possible safety standards.

The key benefits of installing fire protection shutters include:

• Increasing evacuation time, for up to four hours – ensuring all of your team have enough time to evacuate
• Represent a fantastic investment, with an average lifespan of up to ten years
• Due to the way they compartmentalise a fire, the shutters not only keep a fire contained, but can help to stop it from growing (by starving it of oxygen)
• It’s often the case that these shutters keep a fire isolated right until the emergency services arrive. This limits the damage (and so, the cost of the fire) as much as possible
• In an emergency, fire shutters are designed to operate automatically. This means that your designated fire safety officer is exposed to as little risk as possible
• Even in the event of a power failure, fire shutters can be installed with a battery backup, so that their operation is not affected
• During day-to-day operations, they perform in exactly the same way as a standard roller shutter door
• Fire shutters also offer a fantastic degree of security, also protecting your site against vandalism or break-ins

What are the different versions of fire shutters?

There are three different versions of fire shutters that we offer at Access Innovations. These vary based on their integrity ratings, and the level of protection that they offer.

Fire shutters are available in fire protection ratings of 1, 2 and 4 hours.

While some fire shutters are more resilient against fire than others, all fire shutters are fully compliant with the British fire safety standards BS EN 1634-1 and BS 476 Part 22.

At Access Innovations, we have established an exceptional industry reputation for the safety and quality of our service. Our specialist team are fully qualified and have received extensive training, meaning they will be able to offer you invaluable advice about the safety benefits of fire safety shutters.

So, if you would like to find out more about fire safety shutters and how they work, or to enlist our team to install fire safety shutters in your premises, contact our team for a free quote.