SWA
AVOIDING ENTANGLEMENT
Colin Fletcher, marketing manager at SWA, explains how to prevent cables falling in a fi re.
Firefl y Internal Clip
D
id you know there were
14 deaths from cable
entrapment between
2004-2014?
Overhead cabling
doesn’t normally present
a lot of danger. Most of the time electrical
wiring is out of sight and out of mind.
However, in a fi re, falling cables
present a major risk in public buildings or
in offi ces and to our fi refi ghting services
who may need to get you and others
quickly out of the building. You are all at
risk of getting entangled and trapped.
‘There were
14 deaths
from cable
entrapment
between
2004-2014.’
The main causes of accidents
In a fi re plastic trunking holding the
wiring in place gets hot and melts, and
the combined weight of the cables brings
the whole lot down, blocking routes for
those escaping or fi ghting a fi re.
Firefi ghting equipment on their backs
may get caught so badly that fi refi ghters’
lives are seriously at risk, even more so in
Who should use or specify
Firefl y cable clips?
• Health & safety managers
• Local authorities
• Social housing landlords
• Telecom, nuclear power, gas and
electric, datacom and electrical
trades should all understand
the importance of life safety and
asset preservation
18 | June 2017
Security & Fire Safety
smoke fi lled environments. There are no
near miss fi gures available, so the actual
number of entrapment cases could be a
lot higher – it is now a compliance issue
for all those responsible for installing
cables in escape routes.
The good news is that most lives could
be saved by taking preventative action.
The best safety is prevention. Keep
overhead wiring in place, and risk
to human life in a fi re emergency is
dramatically reduced.
Firefl y safety cable clips are specifi cally
engineered to stay in place and be fi re
resistant for prolonged periods. Required
resistance time is 45 minutes to allow fi re
alarms to ring for as long as possible.
Firefl y safety clips keep wiring up
out of the way allowing easy passage
underneath without risk. When trunking
is melting the clips do their job and keep
cables out of harm’s way.
20mm and 25mm
conduit clips
Available in galvanised.
Firefl y External Clip
Available in galvanised.
Compliance
From July 2015 it is a legal requirement
that all electrical installations comply with
BS7671:2008, incorporating Amendment 3.
All of SWA’s Firefl y safety cable clips are
100 per cent compliant with BS7671:2008
Amendment 3 (2015); that is metal cable
retention clips for fi re alarms, HVAC, CCTV
and general electrical cabling.
Firefl y Safety Range
• Low cost, fast, easy installation
• Fix to walls and ceilings
• Ideal for inside and outside trunking
• 100 per cent compliant
BS7671: 2015
• Ideal for new installations and
retro fi ts
SWA Firefl y safety cable clips.
To fi nd your nearest stockist please
call SWA on 01453 844 333
Email: [email protected] or visit
www.swaonline.co.uk
• Fire resistant for prolonged periods
• Spring loaded so they dig in tighter
• Important aid to survival