How one tiny LED light is helping to stop smoking in washrooms

  •  

For decades it has almost been a rite of passage for schoolboys to sneak off to the toilet for a crafty cigarette, out of sight from teachers and prefects. In what was regarded as a gentler age, the penalty for being found out was probably no more than a severe reprimand from the headmaster writes Interfix.

Nowadays things are a lot more serious both at schools and of course in the work place. It is now illegal to smoke with severe penalties on hand for employers and schools who flout the law. This applies equally in public areas such as clubs and shopping centres where as well as the potential health hazards – fire is also a major risk.

However, it seems that the days are numbered for those who think they can away with a quick smoke in a toilet cubicle thanks to a tiny LED light, no bigger than the size of a screw head.

We have developed a system that acts as a silent sentinel for anyone prepared to risk a quick smoke away from prying eyes.

The light is connected to a smoke detector which in turn sounds an alarm which goes off in a nearby office. The culprit has no idea that they have even been found out until they hear the knock on the door as the light is virtually undetectable from inside the cubicle – and no alarm actually sounds inside the washroom.

While it might all sound a bit “big brotherish” it is a fact that a third of all fires are still caused by irresponsible smokers. It is also a fact that we have seen a growing incidence of people smoking other substances which are equally hazardous.

We believe that in the next few years toilet cubicles in every public washroom will have such lights fitted as standard – a silent safeguard in the battle to improve health and safety and an aid in the fight against drug abuse. Visit http://www.interfixgroup.com/

Additional Blogs

Are we measuring the wrong things when it comes to carbon?

Carbon has become the defining metric of our time. In construction, it shapes policy, drives design decisions, influences material choices and increasingly determines how projects are judged. Targets...

Read more

Are we ignoring water as the biggest threat to buildings?

Ask most people in construction what keeps them awake at night and you’ll hear the same answers about fire risk, structural failure, programme schedules and rising costs. They are all valid and...

Read more

Mass timber and water - are we asking the right questions?

"Why sprinkler water - not fire - is mass timber's greatest threat" was the original headline of a recent research article. Take a moment with that headline. A system that keeps fires small is being...

Read more

Submit your construction content here

Read more
Top
Login Logo