What fire/smoke alarms required in Hairdressers

[Anthony]

Hi,

Can anyone please advise what fire alarm system would be required in my hairdressers please? It is a ground floor shop with a small back room containing a tiny kitchenette & bathroom. I have used battery powered smoke alarms in the past but the smoke and steam constantly set them off. Also is it the freehold landlords responsibility to install the system or mine as the leaseholder? Thanks 

[AnthonyB]

It would be yours as being an employer who also has control of the premises in order to carry out a business you are the primary Responsible Person under the fire safety legislation for risk assessment and compliance.

You describe an 'inner room' situation where anyone in the kitchen needs to pass through an access room (the main salon) to escape. This means a fire in the access room could trap someone in the inner room if they aren't aware of it.
Three solutions can be used

1. A smoke (not heat) detector/alarm in the access room to give early warning  to anyone in the inner room; or
2. The wall/partition dividing the inner and access room stops 500mm below the ceiling so smoke passes over and is smelt/seen; or
3. A suitable sized vision panel (window) is fitted in the door or wall between the inner and access rooms so a fire can be seen early enough to escape

1 is out as you are having false alarms and heat detectors are no use as they are far too slow to activate (you'd be trapped before it went off)
2 is impractical as the wall is already there not something you are planning to add

3 is the remaining solution - fitting a vision panel (or not having a door, or just a saloon style door)

Small businesses with premises as small as yours aren't required to have electrical fire alarm systems for life safety/legal compliance purposes as human senses would react  quicker than a detector and a shout of fire would be clearly heard throughout, the first trigger for provision is the layout creating an inner room for which your existing smoke alarm solution is usually acceptable, the second is where there are flats above with inadequate fire separation when something more substantial is needed.