BS 5499 and BS 5499-4
Fire safety signs are overlooked.
It’s the law, yet they appear to be something in the background that engineers are not noticing.
They disappear from awareness into a part of the fixtures and fittings.
There’s a Problem!
If you are working to a standard, the British Standards or your own, you know that to create compliance on premises that this needs to be addressed. Add in a healthy profit margin and it’s something you don’t want to ignore.
You want your customers and their premises to be protected in the best way that you can, yet the legal requirement of signage isn’t generally pointed out to the customers. It’s not noticed by them or the engineers. This is part of the service that they are paying for and part of their essential fire safety.
Engineers need to learn about this important aspect of their role.
It’s ironic that we need a sign in order to pay attention to the signs.
How Have They Become Unimportant?
My experience in auditing engineers shows that the importance of signage doesn’t appear to register to many. There’s a few reasons for this:
External training means that your engineers have been trained, but as with Part 8, much of this valuable and essential knowledge is lost. Either in lack of understanding or being overwhelmed by the volume of information. Perhaps they haven’t been trained in signage at all.
This is only part of the problem. There’s a weird attitude to it, a sort of dismissive, “it’s not worth bothering with” idea!
This thought starts from somewhere and I have a few tricks up my sleeve to switch this belief system to understanding that they are important.
Are Fire Safety Signs Interesting?
To me, yes! To many, not so much ! Fire Signage training could be considered a “dry” subject, bordering on desert like.
So, with my usual twist into doing things differently, this course is …. interesting! Including a bit of fun and a few psychological mind shifts for your engineers, it’s an engaging course designed to be enjoyed, not waded through with gritted teeth.
This course is not just a running through of each sign and explaining where they should go (although this is included). It’s about helping engineers to actually start seeing them, thinking about them and correctly placing them for compliance and your customers’ safety.
Some mind shifts are needed here to help engineers pay attention to detail and to understand the importance of signage.
Observation is a skill and an important learning in this course.
From Your Perspective
Without the correct training I know that signage can cause a headache for you. A badly fixed sign falling off the wall means a costly call back to put right. Incorrect storage in vans means damaged signs and wasted profit.
Awareness training is included in the course so that these problems don’t happen.
I teach what you need from engineers to respect the company’s time and bottom line.
Profit Margins and Organic Growth
Considering the healthy profit margin in signs and the sheer amount that are missed. It’s definitely something that needs looking at to create further organic growth for your company.
A Story
I attended a school with an engineer to do a live fire extinguisher quality audit. While we were walking around the building I noticed there were no fire action signs anywhere. I mentioned this to the engineer and asked if he had noticed, he hadn’t. I also asked him what he was going to do about it? His response was “we don’t service the fire alarm here”.
I told him that his company supplies fire action signs, whether they maintain the alarms or not. There were 20 call points with no fire action signs. Let’s say £10 to supply and fit one. £200 for less than an hours work.
Just an observation! An example of what is missed on your customer’s sites.
Consequences of Incorrect Signage
Incorrect fire extinguisher ID signs can mean a potential operator could pick up the wrong extinguisher for a particular type of fire, potentially making things worse.
Signage that is missing or incorrect could lead people on to a route that is detrimental to life.
Old signs not being removed or relocated can cause confusion and panic.
Doing all that you can to ensure customers, their staff and their premises are safe and compliant is a must.
The Details
This is a half day course that I can present to your engineers at your premises.
The total cost is £160 per candidate plus travel expenses. (Minimum 5).
FAQs
We haven’t got the facilities.
We can discuss where the training could be held.
How far will you travel?
To wherever you are within the UK. Overnight stays will be chargeable as further expenses.
Is there an exam?
No.
Is this course accredited?
No but I train to the British Standards which is ‘best practice’.
Are there any course notes?
Yes
Is there a certificate?
I will issue a certificate of attendance.
Will you work with less than 5 candidates?
Yes, please get in touch for costings.
What are your terms and conditions?
You can read these here: