Valehäire

Valehäire is a term used to describe a warning or alert that is triggered without an actual emergency or danger. In security, fire safety, healthcare, and weather warning systems, a valehäire may prompt an immediate response by responders, authorities, or the public, even though no incident has occurred.

Common causes include sensor faults, maintenance neglect, electrical faults, environmental factors (dust, humidity, construction dust), user error (mis-arming or accidental triggering), and tampering or deliberate false signaling. Some valehäire arise from software glitches or incompatible devices.

Effects can be significant: disruption of services, evacuation or alarm procedures, wasted resources, costs, and in some sectors reduced trust or alarm fatigue. Repeated valehäire can lead to slower or ineffective responses to true emergencies.

Prevention and management: regular maintenance and testing; certification of equipment; use of multi-sensor verification; staged responses; clear procedures for calling authorities; user training; tamper resistance; automatic suppression when two or more independent sensors disagree.

In law and policy, false alarms may be regulated with fines or penalties in some jurisdictions, and many safety codes require reporting and corrective actions to reduce occurrence. See also: false alarm; alarm fatigue; reliability engineering.