S 1.50 Smoke protection

Initiation responsibility: Top Management

Implementation responsibility: Planner

The smoke generated by a fire poses the greatest threat to the lives and health of people. More than 90% of deaths attributed to fire are caused by the effects of fumes (smoke poisoning). Note, though, that the IT hardware can also sustain serious damage due to smoke as well. For this reason, a high value should be placed on comprehensive smoke protection.

The following smoke protection recommendations should be considered:

• Fire resistant doors should also provide protection against smoke.
• Smoke control doors in corridors should be controlled by smoke switches. Such doors can be left open at all times because they will close automatically when smoke is detected.
• The ventilation system and air conditioning system should permit smoke to be extracted from IT rooms.
  
  Duct detectors should be installed in air conditioning ducts (supply and exhaust air ducts).

Detectors that close automatically when smoke particles are detected should be installed in the fresh air intake.

After performing installation and construction work, it must be ensured that smoke seals are still effective.

Employees must be informed which warning signals are issued by the smoke protection components and how they should respond to each signal.

All smoke protection components should be tested regularly to ensure they function properly. This also includes examining if any openings created for running cable through the raised floor or suspended ceiling were effectively sealed.

Review questions:

• Are the smoke protection components tested regularly to ensure they are working properly?
• Are the constructional smoke protection components checked after all installation and construction work?