Bruce McNair, Commercial Director, Call Systems Technology Ltd. (CST), explains how innovation is transforming fire safety and emergency response in leisure facilities
From saunas to pools, modern leisure facilities are embracing intelligent, integrated safety systems to protect guests, staff, and assets without compromising the guest experience.
Wellness and leisure spaces have evolved far beyond simple relaxation zones.
Today’s spas, steam rooms, and pools are high-tech environments that demand cutting-edge safety solutions.
Behind the calm and luxury, these facilities face unique challenges, heat, humidity, flammable materials, and heavy footfall that push traditional fire and emergency systems to their limits.
Fortunately, innovations in integrated safety, wireless communication, and intelligent fire messaging are helping operators worldwide create environments that are safer, smarter, and more connected, giving both guests and staff confidence that help is never far away.
A unique environment with unique risks
Few areas within a leisure facility test the limits of safety technology quite like those requiring cable runs across large spaces.
Beyond the challenges of lengthy installations and the disruption caused by cabled systems, these environments often combine high temperatures, humidity, and continuous operation conditions that can rapidly corrode traditional electrical components and undermine the reliability of standard emergency call systems.
To address these challenges, many facility operators are adopting wireless emergency call systems.
These fully monitored systems are supported by intelligent software that records activations and daily testing routines, enabling automatic report generation for Health and Safety audits.
This not only demonstrates the facility’s commitment to maintaining a high standard of safety but also provides clear evidence of system performance and response times during incidents.
Beyond the spa: integrated safety and rapid response
While specialist equipment like air-operated call buttons and waterproof switches remains essential, the future of leisure safety lies in integration.
Modern wireless systems now link panic alarms, pool alerts, disabled toilet alarms and first aider call points into a cohesive network, eliminating the need for disruptive cabling, simplifying installation, and ensuring critical alerts reach key responders instantly.
A compelling example can be seen at the University of Surrey’s Sports Park, where Call Systems Technology (CST) partnered with the university to enhance safety across spa, pool, and leisure areas.
Twelve wireless First Aider Call Points and two Sauna Call Points were strategically installed throughout key leisure zones, including spa treatment areas, poolside locations, and changing facilities, to ensure immediate access to assistance when needed.
Each call point messages thirty-eight intelligent IP68 Rated Waterproof Radios, enabling real-time communication with trained first aiders.
The results speak for themselves: emergency response times improved by up to 75%, with assistance reaching guests in under 60 seconds.
According to Luigi Mansi, Health, Safety and Quality Manager at the University of Surrey: “Since moving over to the new radio-based and alarm system with CST, we have found their service to be very professional with quick response times.
The alarm system that connects to the software has helped to improve response times to emergencies, and the radios have helped with communications, being clearer and able to remove feedback, which helps in emergencies.”
The success of this approach is also reflected at the Britannia Leisure Centre, a multi-level community hub in London combining gym, pool, and wellness facilities under one roof.
With its wide range of high-traffic zones and specialist environments, Britannia required a far more complex, fully integrated Gen2 Queue monitoring software.
This system includes gym, changing room, poolside, sauna, and disabled toilet emergency buttons, alongside underwater camera alerts, all routed through CST’s Gen2 Queue platform.
Alerts appear instantly on display screens with accompanying audio and beacon notifications and are simultaneously transmitted to pager devices carried by staff.
This ensures a consistent, multi-channel response mechanism that minimises downtime and guarantees rapid assistance, regardless of where an incident occurs.
The result is a unified alert ecosystem capable of managing a diverse range of emergency inputs across an extensive facility, a benchmark for how intelligent integration can deliver resilience and real-time visibility in modern leisure environments.
Together, these installations demonstrate how wireless, software-driven integration and intelligent system design can transform emergency response capabilities across leisure and wellness environments.
Whether in a university sports complex or a large public leisure centre, CST’s connected approach ensures that every call for assistance is detected, prioritised, and acted upon without delay, elevating safety standards, enhancing guest confidence, and ensuring that help is never more than a moment away.
Fire safety in the modern leisure environment
Fire safety within spas and leisure facilities presents a unique set of challenges.
Heat sources, electrical systems, flammable oils, wooden structures, and limited visibility due to steam all demand a precise, layered approach to risk management.
A robust fire safety strategy integrates multiple layers of protection:
- Automatic water mist systems: designed for saunas and steam rooms, these systems cool, suppress and prevent the spread of fire and smoke while minimising water damage.
- Wireless fire detection: adaptable and easy to install, ideal for wet zones or refurbishment projects where traditional cabling is impractical.
- Scheduled maintenance: regular inspection and servicing of alarms, emergency lighting, and extinguishers form the cornerstone of reliable fire protection.
- Comprehensive fire risk assessments: identifying hazards across treatment rooms, pool areas, and adjoining facilities ensures all risks are effectively managed.
- Staff training and drills: ensuring teams know how to respond when alarms sound is as vital as the technology itself.
Together, these measures create a resilient and responsive fire safety framework, protecting guests, staff, and assets while maintaining the calm, welcoming atmosphere of modern leisure environments.
Looking ahead: the next wave of innovation
The future of safety in leisure facilities is being shaped by a powerful combination of regulatory evolution and technological advancement, transforming how spas, pools, and leisure facilities are managed globally.
For example, the recent update to British Standard 5839-1:2025, a widely recognised fire detection and alarm standard, emphasises competence, documentation, and system integration, ensuring installations are not only compliant but optimised for long-term reliability.
While standards vary worldwide, the principles of rigorous maintenance, clear accountability, and integrated system design are universally relevant.
Many facilities are also transitioning from legacy analogue systems to IP-based or wireless alternatives, offering faster alerting, remote diagnostics, and improved resilience, providing real-time assurance in critical spa and pool environments.
Supporting this shift, our Fire Alarm Messaging System (AlarmCall Pro+) equips operators with a powerful transmitter capable of delivering addressable fire alarm notifications across their site to both two-way messaging pagers and radios.
Complementing this, our Gen2 Queue Software continuously monitors and displays Fire Alarms, Security Alerts, Wireless Call Points, DDA Toilet Alarms, Pool-View Cameras, and Wireless Pool Alarms.
The system provides live monitoring, instant notifications to connected devices, integration with wireless flashing beacons and sounders, and comprehensive performance reporting.
This real-time visibility not only streamlines communication but also ensures that every alert is prioritised and actioned without delay, a vital feature in large or multi-zone leisure facilities.
At sites such as Britannia Leisure Centre, this next-generation technology is already redefining what integrated safety looks like in practice.
Here, a complex Gen2 Queue configuration seamlessly links poolside, gym, sauna, and disabled toilet alerts with underwater camera notifications, all displayed on central monitoring screens and instantly transmitted to staff pagers.
This unified, data-driven approach illustrates how connected safety ecosystems can operate effectively across expansive and diverse environments, setting a new benchmark for responsiveness and resilience.
Cloud-based asset management is revolutionising maintenance, allowing equipment such as extinguishers, detectors, and call points to be logged, monitored, and updated online.
This provides full visibility of compliance and maintenance cycles, especially valuable in facilities with frequent refurbishment or high staff turnover.
Finally, integrated safety platforms combine fire detection, emergency communication, and building management systems, enabling operators to oversee all aspects of safety from a single interface.
This improves response times, operational efficiency, and overall safety oversight.
The result is a new era of proactive, connected safety management: smarter, more resilient, and ready to meet the evolving expectations of leisure facilities worldwide.
Creating safer, more sustainable leisure spaces
For operators and safety professionals, the challenge remains clear: achieving full compliance and operational resilience without compromising the guest experience.
The convergence of wireless communication, mechanical reliability, and intelligent fire suppression is redefining how leisure facilities are protected.
Today’s leading sites are adopting connected safety networks, systems that communicate, self-monitor, and provide real-time visibility across every corner of the property.
Whether through advanced wireless technology, intelligent suppression systems, or robust solutions like air-operated emergency buttons, the direction is clear: safer, smarter, and more connected environments.
Ultimately, the goal is to create leisure spaces where safety is built in from the ground up, seamless, intelligent, and ready when it matters most.
As the sector evolves, collaboration between fire safety specialists, facility managers, and system designers will ensure that innovation enhances, rather than complicates, the guest experience.
In the future, the safest spas and leisure facilities will not only meet regulatory standards, but they will also be responsive, seamlessly connected, and proactively designed to protect both people and assets.
Find out more
For more information visit: call-systems.com, or email us to schedule a free consultation: Bruce.McNair@call-systems.com