For those involved in the growing solar panel sector‚ awareness of installation and safety standards is crucial for system performance‚ says Jim Wallace of Seaward Solar.

Legionella pneumophila is the bacterium associated with 90% of all cases of Legionnaire’s disease which is a fatal form of pneumonia.  It can affect anyone, but is particularly dangerous for people who suffer from any level of immunosupression such as the very young and the elderly, smokers and people who suffer from respiratory problems. Small quantities of the bacteria do exist naturally in nature such as in the micro flora in rivers, lakes and ground water but in such low concentrations that they pose no real threat.

Peter Lackey, Fire Product Marketing Manager at ADT Fire & Security provides an overview of BS 5839 Part 1, which covers the design, installation and maintenance of such systems and offers some practical tips on developing appropriate programmes.

Figures from the ABI suggest that in 2009, the average commercial fire insurance claim amounted to £21,000 - a marked increase from just £8,000 six years prior. Added to this is the unfortunate fact that 80% of single site businesses affected by a major fire are forced to close within 18 months.

Peter Jennings, Technical Director for ACO Building Drainage, looks at how poor planning of drainage systems can contribute directly to the spread of fire in large buildings.

Drainage systems, by their very nature, are fundamentally open systems that safely remove water and liquid wastes away from the inside and outside of commercial and public buildings. However, it is the intrinsically open construction of these channels and gullies that presents a significant problem when in comes to fire protection.

It would be easy to assume that there is little connection between providing effective fire protection and safeguarding the environment, but that assumption would be very wrong as Don Scott, Fire Engineering Consultant with Siemens Building Technologies Fire Safety, explains.

Think first of all about fires. They almost always involve the burning of carbon-based substances such as wood, plastic, paper or fuels. It’s not surprising therefore, that the burning process produces carbon dioxide, one of the best known of the greenhouse gases. And big fires, such as a major building fire, produce very large quantities of carbon dioxide.

The United Kingdom Fire and Rescue Services attended 722,000 fire and false alarm incidents in 2008/09. Unwanted fire signals divert essential resources from the emergency services and put an unnecessary drain on public finances - costing the UK economy around £1 billion a year.

On-site electrical equipment is at the receiving end of a lot of abuse, whether that is from the harsh environments which it has to endure or simply from misuse by site personnel. However, the fact remains that it has to stand up to the elements in order to eliminate delays which can have a costly effect on any project.

Developing a new product can be a long and arduous task, especially for companies with out-sourced manufacturing facilities in far-flung locations. As we do everything under one roof here in the UK we are ideally placed to turn ideas into new products quickly and efficiently - a position that enables us to develop products for specific projects.

Over 4,000 fires occur in retail outlets every year and on average larger fires cause over £5m of damage annually. Following the outbreak of a small fire in a shop, it can take less than three minutes to fill a mall with smoke, while it can take 30 minutes to evacuate a mall, taking into account parents with young children, the elderly and the disabled.

An unusual initiative has been taking place across the country - a series of mock public trials of company directors. Organised by the Health and Safety Executive, the aim of the events (entitled ‘Guilty or not Guilty: what's your verdict?') is to highlight what happens when something goes wrong and a worker is injured.