Despite smoke alarms sounding a regular beep to warn us the battery needs changing, as with all electrical items there are other faults than can occur causing the item to stop functioning correctly. In the case of a smoke alarm this could be a lifesaving difference, providing you with more time to get out of the building and call for help.

It has been suggested that you are over 7 times more likely to die in a fire if there are no working smoke alarms fitted in the correct locations around the building (At least 1 per floor). Checking your smoke alarm is in working order is as simple as pressing a button and should be done monthly, if not weekly. It is also recommended that the batteries are replaced once every year (unless you have a ten year alarm). Unfortunately there are not many of us who can truthfully say that we are vigilant in this matter which is why the Tick Tock Test campaign was introduced by Fire Kills, a government initiative to help reduce deaths and injuries from fire. The campaign suggests that we should take advantage of having two days every year when we routinely walk around the house changing all of the clocks and check our smoke alarms too.

If they don’t work they can’t save us!