Chubb Fire, one of the UK's leading fire specialists, has produced a guide to cut down on the number of false alarms from automatic detection systems.

The free guide has been designed for businesses that use automatic fire detection and alarm systems and aims to educate staff in an effort to reduce the number of unwanted signals - the Fire Brigade dealt with more than 480,000 unwanted signals in 2001.

Recent changes to the British Standards relating to the installation and maintenance of alarms has shifted responsibility for false alarms to include operators as well as manufacturers.

Chubb Fire's managing director, John Spencer said, 'We have a collective responsibility to do something about the number of false alarms, this free guide is the first step.'