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WFP specialist engineer David Munday has debuted as an author, when David joined the business in 2008 he was well underway with a project of his own. He has now seen his book published, been on the radio to promote it and has created his own website backing up the central character of the book. 

Having read the book to my own daughter I can thoroughly recommend that it as a children’s story with a super hero that you’d never expect! A truly original story and one that I found certainly drives your imagination. 

I have a signed copy at home - Thank you David, and It now has a new cover with a portrait of Joshua. 

If you want to read more then visit http://www.joshuabean.co.uk/ and buy yourself a copy online. 

I have put an except of the book below

“The formula has become a part of the plastic in the dummy. So you see if you use it again,” George concluded “your body will just grow as before and for a time you will be an adult. Then you will go back to your normal self. The longer you suck the dummy, I would expect, the more time you will spend in adult form. But to be safe, until we can get you to the lab I wouldn’t advise you try it.”

This Order came into force on 1 October 2006. It replaced over a hundred pieces of fire safety legislation including the Fire Precautions Act and the Workplace (Fire Safety) Regulations. Fire Certificates are no longer issued or enforced. It placed a duty on the ‘responsible person’ to ensure, ‘as far as is reasonably practical’ the safety of his/her employees and to take such general fire precautions as may be reasonably required to ensure that the premises are safe [ie for non-employees].

Under the Order, there is a requirement to carry out and continually update an assessment of the risk of fire to people in and around the premises/building, and to assess and maintain the measures to reduce those risks to an acceptable level. Where there are five or more employees, the risk assessment must be recorded.

A Fire Risk Assessment should be carried out:
1. On completion of the building fit out and preferably before first occupation of the building;
2. Regularly, particularly where any changes occur such as changes in the use of the building, the number or nature of occupants, or building works;
3. We would recommend that a fire risk assessment is carried out at least annually.

Other legal duties include:
1. A person must be nominated for any special role identified in an emergency plan;
2. Employees must be consulted about nominations to perform special roles, and about any proposals for improving the fire precautions;
3. Other employers in the building must be informed about any significant risks, which might affect the safety of their employees, and there must be co-operation with them in measures to reduce the risk;
4. Those having control over the workplace have a responsibility to ensure compliance with the regulations in those parts of the building over which they have control;
5. A suitable and readily available method of calling the emergency services must be established;
6. Employees are required to co-operate in ensuring that the workplace is safe from fire.

The order also adopts ‘Principles of Prevention’. These include:
• Avoiding risks;
• Evaluating the risks which cannot be avoided;
• Combating the risks at source;
• Adapting to technical progress;
• Replacing the dangerous by the non-dangerous or less dangerous [particularly with respect to hazardous substances];
• Developing a coherent overall prevention policy which covers technology, organisation of work and the influence of factors relating to the working environment;
• Giving appropriate instructions to employees.

Demolition in Progress

We took a call today from a school where we installed a small fire detection and alarm system just two years ago. Claire from our office took the call and passed me the message; they were going to be demolishing the new multisports building, and could we come to site to de-commission the existing fire alarm?

I thought that she had taken the message incorrectly and called the customer to establish what they really wanted.
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XPander - Wire-Free devices on a Wired system

Wire-Free fire alarm devices on a wired loop

Radio devices that can now be connected to an existing fire detection system running the world class Apollo XP95 protocol.

If the panel that is installed runs this protocol then the XPander  product can be used.

WFP are at the forefront of utilising technology to the benefit of our customers and are pleased to announce that following an evaluation period and full product training by the manufacturer we can now offer a hybrid solution for our customers.

• Temporary building works
• Temporary buildings within schools
• Aesthetically sensitive buildings
• Asbestos issues affecting a wired solution

XPander is a system in which individual detectors, call points and alarm devices communicate with the XP95 loop by radio signals. An interface is connected to the loop in the same way as any other interface, such as an Input/Output Unit.

Radio on wired

Every XPander device is assigned an address and this address is recognised by the control panel in the same way as is the address of any device connected directly to the loop wiring.

The XPander range consists of:

• Optical Smoke Detector
• Multisensor Smoke Detector
• A1R Heat Detector
• CS Heat Detector
• Sounder
• Sounder Beacon
• Manual Call Point
• Interface Module

1. How do I stop it?
2. How do I test it?
3. What does ‘Pre-Alarm’ mean?
4.  What does ‘BT’ fault mean?
When the fire alarm needs to be tested and you are the one standing in front of the panel reading unfamiliar messages, a list of answers to these questions might come in very handy.
We have put together some tips to help you deal with the situation. And maybe impress those around you with your superior knowledge. (more…)

When all you want to know is how much to budget for maintaining your alarm system, why then does it all seem to be shrouded in such mystery?  Why is it, that you can only get some kind of obscure response from some operators, assuring you that everything will be cheap?  “Yes, we can do an emergency call out for £50 or £60 pounds,” they tell you. Or, “Yes, we can test an extinguisher for £1.00.”  It sounds too good to be true.

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HMO Paddington

What level of automatic coverage should an HMO have?

Deciding the actual coverage that you are required to provide is the key to getting competitive pricing from fire alarm companies.

For the landlord, the various types of system seem complicated and the advice that you are given can sometimes be quite confusing, and conflicting.

Having recently had quite a few enquiries, WFP have been putting together a list of common questions, together with our answers and explanations, and hopefully these will help when deciding which way to go.

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The holidays are busy periods for us and this year has been no exception, whilst the schools are out we have been in and fitted radio fire alarms in several schools, with timescales shorter than you would expect. (more…)

It was on Friday 4th July that David Munday our intrepid engineer found that he was looking at a complete system failure in a newly refurbished Long Ditton HMO*

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When sites are new, much is made of the testing and commissioning phase of the development, the consultant and building users get involved and much checking and double checking is done.
The jobs are handed over and the manuals and drawings turn up for the building user to start the task of dealing with the inevitable hiccups;
so the building is now 10 years old; (more…)