A scheme to reduce false fire alarms at a Dundee hospital has seen a “significant” decrease at the facility.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has been working alongside NHS Tayside to reduce the number of false fire alarms at Ninewells.
The alarms are triggered by a number of factors, including steaming kettles to accidentally being set off.
Martin Tait, Dundee group manager for the fire service, today told the Tele that the scheme has reduced the number of false alarms by 23% since it was rolled out in December.
There was 52 instances in 2014 between February 1 and April 20 while during the same period for this year, there has only been 40.
Mr Tait said: “The figures from February and April are representative of the decrease we have seen on the whole. It might not seem like that much, but 23% is a significant decrease to us.
“If you look at the percentage of incidents we attend in the Dundee area, 60% of them are unwanted fire alarm signals. It is a high number of incidents that we attend where there isn’t a fire and that puts unnecessary pressure on us. Ninewells Hospital was one of the worst places for these unwanted fire alarm signals and we are working closely to try to reduce the number coming from there.”
The initiative works with Ninewells staff logging information when an alarm goes off, which is then analysed by SFRS officials in order to work out why the alarm went off.
Mr Tait said the reasons for the false alarms were varied, from steaming kettles being too close to fire alarms to a staff member setting it off by accident.
A spokeswoman for NHS Tayside said false alarms could be disruptive to patients and staff members, especially when they need to be evacuated.
She said: “NHS Tayside and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are working in partnership on an initiative to reduce the number of unwanted fire alarm signals throughout NHS Tayside and in particular at Ninewells Hospital.”