Smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms are often overlooked, but they are very important aspects of safety in the home. Statistics show that properly installed and maintained alarms can help save lives by providing an early warning for a safe exit. Used in combination, they are two of the best tools to protect your members’ or employees’ homes and families.

Safety is the law

Most fires and carbon monoxide poisonings occur at night or early in the morning, when people are asleep. This is one reason why most provinces have laws that require all homes to have a working smoke alarm on each level and outside all sleeping areas.

Types of smoke alarms

There are two main types of smoke alarms:

• Ionization smoke alarms respond best to fast-spreading, flaming fires that burn combustible materials rapidly, such as paper or grease. This is the most common type of fire, accounting for 70 per cent of cases.
  
  
• Photoelectric smoke alarms respond to slower-burning fires that may smoulder for hours before bursting into flame, including cigarettes burning into furniture.

For the fastest response time to any type of fire, it’s important to install both types of alarms in the home, or one that incorporates both technologies. The information printed on the outside of the alarm’s plastic casing or the user’s manual should indicate which type you have.

How CO alarms work

Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless and toxic gas that interferes with the body’s ability to transport oxygen through blood. It can leak from anything that burns fossil fuels, including furnaces and exhaust vents for gas appliances, wood burning fireplaces, and exhaust fumes from idling cars. Exposure to low levels of CO can cause flu-like symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, headaches, confusion, fatigue and shortness of breath. Children, the elderly and people with heart or respiratory conditions may be particularly sensitive to carbon monoxide.

Because you can't see, taste or smell it, CO can affect you before you even know it's there. Carbon monoxide alarms can warn you before CO reaches a dangerous level, which most commonly happens during cold winter months when furnaces run and windows remained closed.

Installing and using smoke and CO alarms

• Whichever type of smoke or CO alarm you choose, make sure the label indicates it’s approved by Canadian Standards Association (CSA) or Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (ULC).
  
  
• Ensure alarms are installed, cleaned and tested according to the manufacturer's instructions. Replace CO alarms every five to seven years, and smoke alarms every 10 years.
  
  
• Install alarms on each level of your home, including the basement. The best places are in living rooms, where most fires start, and near bedrooms to wake you at night. Make sure the units are not covered up by furniture or draperies, or plugged into outlets controlled by a wall switch.
  
  
• Change the batteries as often as recommended by the manufacturer, or when you hear the warning chirp. Never borrow batteries from your smoke alarms for another device.
  
  
• If you experience nuisance alarms caused by steam from the shower or heat from your kitchen, do not remove the battery. Try moving the alarm to a different location, or purchase an alarm with a hush feature that temporarily silences the alarm.

Families need to know what the alarms sound like, and what to do when they hear them. Encourage your members or employees to develop and practice an escape plan with their families, and arrange a meeting point a safe distance from their home.

It’s also important to have a working fire extinguisher in the home, especially in the kitchen area.

Need more information? Your local fire department is an excellent source of information. Talk to them about fire prevention and carbon monoxide safety to keep employees safe from harm. Learn more about home insurance options to keep your members or employees protected.