Tips to avoid a false fire alarm

Stay aware to prevent false alarms

Living in university accommodation is one of the top highlights of your student experience. But with so many people under one roof, keeping our halls safe (and quiet at 5am) only works when everyone does their bit.

Before you head to your morning lecture or start cooking your dinner, make sure you've locked down your fire safety basics to prevent any false alarms:

Cooking smart 🍳

Your accommodation kitchens have detectors, while they won't go off when you're cooking, it's important to watch what you're cooking and make sure you do a few things to prevent any false alarms:

• Never leave food unattended: Set a phone timer so you don't forget about your cooking or keep an eye on what you're making so you don't burn any toast!
• Close the kitchen door: Shut the door to keep smoke inside. Never wedge it open as this will let smoke drift into hallways and trigger the main building alarm.
• Turn on the fan: Always use the kitchen extractor fan and open a window slightly when you cook.
• Keep appliances clean: Clean your toaster, grill, and oven regularly to stop old grease and crumbs from smoking up the room.
• Skip late-night cooking: Avoid cooking heavy meals if you come home after a night out.  It's easy to fall asleep and burn food.

Managing steam 🚿

This also goes for aerosols as well as shower steam:

• Keep bathroom doors shut: When taking a shower, always keep the door shut and leave the fan running afterwards.
• Spray away from detectors: Do not use deodorant, hairspray, or body spray directly under smoke alarms. 
• Watch styling tools: Keep hairdryers, straighteners and curlers away from smoke detectors and never leave them face down on a bed or carpet.

Banned items in halls 🚫

For fire safety reasons, there are certain items you cannot have in accommodations to prevent fire risks:

• Chop pans/oils in saucepans
• Deep-fat fryers
• Fan heaters/plug-in heaters
• Candles/incense sticks
• BBQs
• Fireworks

We know it's tempting to decorate your room with fairy lights, candles or other burning materials, however, these are considered dangerous and are not allowed in our accommodations. If you are caught using any of these or any items that breach fire regulations, you may be issued a charge.

Specific fines & penalities 🔥

If you tamper with equipment or cause any damage to a smoke detector, you will be charged a fine directly to your student account:

• Tampering with smoke detectors: £80 fine (this includes covering them up, taping or disconnecting them).
• Misuse of fire equipment: £80 fine (e.g playing with fire extinguishers or blankets).
• Smoking/Vaping inside: £80 fine 
• Purposefully setting the fire alarm off: £80 fine. The university treats this as a criminal offence that can lead to immediate eviction from halls and formal university disciplinary hearings.

What to do if you accidentally trigger a false alarm 🚨

If you accidently cause a false alarm and there is absolutely no fire risk, evacuate the building normally but immediately notify a member of the accommodation team or reception. 

Letting them know right away helps them quickly verify the cause and reset the system. 

It's always best to avoid setting off a false alarm than waking up the entire building over some burnt toast. Take a quick look at our Fire Safety in halls to make sure you stay aware of important information. If you have any safety concerns or notice a faulty alarm, don't wait to reach out! Contact your Site Reception or use the SafeZone app immediately.