Some Ergonomic and Other Aspects of the Causes of False Alarm Calls from Intruder Alarm Systems

Abstract

The paper summarises a report concerning a diagnostic study of false alarm causation in the city of Birmingham, England. The study involved an analysis of Police computer records, alarm company files, data from public services, and a survey of 100 false alarms in a city police division. The study was occasioned by the fact that in the United Kingdom approximately 98% of alarm calls are false, costing 10⁶ man-hours per annum in Police response, and the growth of the industry indicates that the latter figure will increase by 15% per annum. Major findings are that between 50% and 75% of false alarms are attributable to ‘human error’ in design, installation, and operation of the system, and that 70% of these seem to be due to the repetition of the immediately previous cause. Recommendations are discussed, involving in the main additional human factors training, and better liaison between the various parties in the security industry.