Each Peach Childcare in Hove, East Sussex, provides quality childcare and education for children from new babies to five years old.
“We have 70-80 children on an average day here at Each Peach so it is a very lively environment,” said Suzanne Charlesworth, Nursery Manager. “There’s always plenty of activity, so it can become very noisy with children playing and chatting to each other. Staff and children regularly move around between rooms, and out into the garden, so it’s important that the building is accessible.”
Fire doors causing difficulties
“During collection times it can get very busy, with large numbers of parents picking up their children, finding their things and talking to other parents. We need to make sure everyone can move around easily so there’s no traffic jams! Our fire doors kept getting in the way so we had to wedge them open to make life easier. We’d also had problems with the doors closing too quickly on people, so we were worried about safety.”
Each Peach had tried to solve the problem of door wedges by installing devices to legally hold open fire doors. Suzanne continued: “Other door hold-open devices had been set off by the noise of
children shouting and laughing. They just weren’t right for us.”
Each Peach asked Fireco to find a solution to this problem and Dorgard Pro was installed. With Dorgard Pro, retainers are fitted to each fire door, which automatically close the door when the alarm is activated. A separate transmitter is wired directly into the fire alarm system which means you can instantly check that all units are working, and
everything is running smoothly.
Quick installation
Suzanne said: “We had units fitted to 10 doors and the whole installation, including the transmitter and repeater, took less than an hour. It’s made such a difference — we can safely keep the doors open, and every time the alarm is tested, they close, which is reassuring.”
“It’s easier for people to move through the building at peak times now, and the kids can run about without worrying that doors will close on them. Keeping the doors open has been great for ventilation as well, particularly in the kitchen. Dorgard Pro’s transmitter is radio-activated, so it isn’t affected by background noise. Everything works really well.”
“With the transmitter installed, the units have a five-year battery life, which is cost-effective. Dorgard Pro has given us peace of mind, knowing that we can safely keep doors open, but we’ll be protected if there’s a fire.”
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