Jeff Jones, Technical Manager at The Technical Department, reviews the ZZEUS Training five-day residential fire safety training course.
Regular readers of this esteemed publication should be familiar with Tom Brookes (aka Dr. ZZEUS), and his bi-monthly Q&A column which aims to answer questions related to fire safety regulation and legislation.
Not only is Tom a busy chap with penning articles and generally raising awareness across the industry, he is also the Chairman of the FSA (Fire & Security Association), Director of the British Fire Consortium and Managing Director of Lindum Fire Services, amongst other roles.
Oh, and did I also mention that he runs his own training company…?
An appointment with the Doctor
ZZEUS Training, based in Lincoln, offers EAL recognised and approved bespoke training and examinations for electricians and fire alarm engineers at its specially designed training centre.
Although the centre offers a number of different courses and options for delegates, earlier this year I was offered the opportunity to take part in the five-day fire safety training course, with exam included.
This five-day module aims to cover all aspects of BS 5839-1:2017, providing an understanding of legislation and standards relating to fire detection and fire alarm systems along with the basic principles of fire and fire behaviour in acceptance with BS 5839-1.
I should start the review by stating that the facilities at ZZEUS Training are some of the very best that I’ve experienced on any training course I’ve undertaken – they’re immaculate. Clearly a huge amount of pride is taken by all the staff that are responsible for the facility and a lot of thought has gone into its configuration, with everything in its rightful place and nicely laid out.
The centre is also designed to make the environment as relaxed as possible for attending delegates, with ample tea, coffee and biscuits on hand throughout the day and even a free water flask to compliment the excellent ZZEUS course notes that are yours to keep at the end and are excellent for future reference.
Both the theory and practical elements are housed in the same room, which makes the process of swapping back and forth from theory to practical throughout the week much more relaxed than being dragged from one classroom environment to another. I should point out, however, that the exam does take place in a separate area of the training facilities and is operated under exam conditions.
Each delegate was provided with a desk for the theory elements of the course, with a practical board situated a few feet behind this and within easy reach, containing two examples of fire alarm systems – addressable and non-addressable.
I’d also like to give a special mention to Buddy Squires, ZZEUS’ Lead Trainer, who was absolutely fantastic throughout my stay. From the initial friendly manner in which he greeted myself and the rest of the class, through to his teaching techniques and style, Buddy is top class, patiently explaining aspects of the course in a clear and concise manner.
He clearly has a lot of practical hands-on experience (as well as theory/knowledge) of installing and commissioning fire detection and alarm systems and allows you plenty of time to run through items that you might not have been clear on with either the theory or the practice. So, what did we learn?
Day 1
The majority of the first day was spent going over the BS 5839 regulations (in section 1 & 2 of BS 5839 which covers general and the design considerations) module-by-module with delegates using the excellent ZZEUS manual for guidance and referring to the regulations for the exact paragraph and terminology.
We were given plenty of opportunities to stop and ask questions, with Buddy also presenting some very interesting real world examples of various installations (both compliant and non-compliant) that were offered up for discussion with the rest of the class.
The day then concluded with a mock examination under simulated exam conditions. I find this particular approach to learning very useful as it quickly identifies where your weaknesses lie and where you can revise and improve throughout the rest of the week.
Day 2
We spent the morning (first hour) of the second day marking the previous day’s exam paper, referencing the exact location where the answer can be found in BS 5839. This is a really handy exercise to help with pinpointing and fine-tuning your understanding of, and future compliance with, the regulations. Afterwards, sections 6 (maintenance), 7 (users responsibilities) and 3 (limitations of false alarms and unwanted fire alarm signals) were covered.
It was then time to get hands-on in the afternoon session, as we spent time wiring up a fire alarm system on our own individual training boards, which I really enjoyed.
Day 3
After taking some time in the morning to again go through the previous day’s exam paper, pinpointing areas that an individual still needs to revise and improve on, we then had the opportunity to carry out some fault finding on the fire alarm system that we’d wired up on Day 2 after looking at section 4, installation and elements of BS 7671 in installation practices.
Unbeknown to us, a number of faults had mysteriously appeared and been simulated overnight, making this task a very useful hands-on experience that helps the delegate to understand their way around a fire alarm panel and its associated accessories.
Day 4
Again, the morning mainly covered the theory side of things with the opportunity to follow through on a few of the modules that hadn’t been covered the previous day. We then spent the afternoon designing and costing up our very own fire alarm system which, upon completion, then led to an open group discussion based around the reasons we designed the system in the way we had, and what was/wasn’t compliant.
This was another example of how best to simulate a real-life scenario in a training-based environment. Section5 – commissioning and handover – was completed with theory, then we practically commissioned another learner’s practical work from the week.
Day 5
Understandably, the final day was met with a few nerves as we were taken into a separate room and carried out our online exam under strict conditions.
Once this was over, we then reconvened as a group to learn more about programming addressable fire alarm systems (which was very interesting as it’s something I’d not done before), before concluding with a look at the best practice associated with safe isolation of systems.
Conclusion
As someone who had limited/basic experience of current fire detection systems and regulations before attending this course, I can honestly say that the whole thing was outstanding in terms of improving my understanding from both a theory and practical element, and I’d highly recommend it to other professionals.
Even better still, I actually scored 98% in the exam, coming top of the class and earning a gold pin badge for my efforts!
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