Does Your Office Comply With Emergency and Exit Lighting Law? – A Checklist

It can be a difficult task to implement safety requirements, but ultimately worthwhile if an evacuation were ever needed from your building. By law, your office or place of work must have clearly marked emergency exits and exit lighting to facilitate evacuation in emergency situations. Your exit signs should be fully operational at all times. The laws surrounding these important safety features are sometimes difficult to implement, especially if the building is old. Follow this emergency lighting checklist to keep your staff safe. Full details can be found in the Australian Standards document AS 2293.
Emergency lighting. Enclosed spaces must have emergency lighting that will operate should the normal electrical supply fail. This is especially true if your workplace is regularly top 10 timber producing states used by the general public. This is a very important requirement and if you are unsure about whether or not your workplace complies, ask an electrician for advice.
Safety lighting. If you work anywhere other than ground level and you experience an emergency in your building – cutting the power – you will have to evacuate down the stairs. Building stairwells are generally entirely devoid of natural lighting, gaining most of their illumination from buzzing fluorescent lights. These lights will be out in an emergency. Therefore, safety lighting will need to be installed. Once again this will have to be connected to a different power supply and will need to comply with AS 2293. Safety lighting applies to egress routes, which is to say they must clearly show the way from anywhere in the building, through emergency (or regular) exits and to safety, meaning outside the building.
Number of exits. As a flimsy rule of thumb there should be two on each floor. This, however, is extremely dependent on the size of your building, the size of your floors, how many employees you have and how far your exits are from the street. Each exit must be free from obstruction and a clear path must be able to be made to it at all times.
Exit signs. Illuminated at all times, glaringly obvious in the dimness of a movie theatre or fancy restaurant, these rectangular green signs are familiar to us all. Exit lighting must be installed above each emergency equipment maintenance log app exit without exception, even if you think the exit is blindingly obvious. Exit lighting must be installed in compliance with AS 2293. They should be visible at all times from anywhere (within reason) in the building.
Keeping your employees safe is part of being a good employer. If you feel that your workplace isn’t in compliance with the law, it’s best to rectify the situation as soon as possible, otherwise you may be in the hot-seat, literally. Check out Australian Standards AS 2293 for more details or ask an electrical services company to assess your building, it may save your life and those around you.…

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Using Appliances Outside – A Checklist

There are a number of reasons you will need to use the power supply from your house outside. Eco-friendly garden equipment and mowers, even chainsaws are all reliant on the power supply from your house. Having a party? You will want your stereo outside, maybe also some lights, a little beer fridge (if it’s going to be a large one). Perhaps one day you’re in the mood to watch some TV under the shade of a tree. Whether the reasons be for practical users or leisure-time activities, any electrician will tell you that the danger of electricity remains the same. So, before plugging in that extension and rolling it outside, here’s a checklist for using appliances outside:
Using outside outlets. An outside outlet is a whole different kettle of fish to the ones in your lounge-room wall. You will need to ensure that it has a weather-proof global deicer parts cover attached at all times it isn’t being used. If the outlet needs to be used during wet weather, make sure the cover is designed for this, as many are not.
Ensure that a residual current device (RCD) is installed on your outlet, whether you’re using an indoor or outdoor outlet. These are also known as safety switches. Safety switches monitor the current in a circuit and will switch off in less than 300 milliseconds if any danger is present.
Checking power cords. Before even plugging in your appliance check to see if your power cord is in good repair. Look along its whole length for any holes or scratches. If any are found, do not use the cord. Any holes in a cord can let in moisture, which will result in an immediate earth grounding.
Avoiding wet or damp locations. Any water coming into contact with the circuit will result in grounding of the circuit, spelling out danger for you or anyone in contact with the circuit. Even if you have a safety switch installed in your circuit, this will cause it to trip. Using an mckinsey product manager article outdoor appliance in a damp environment will end up causing delays and frustration, if not serious personal damage. This can be a good concept for procrastination. Using an electrical mower when the grass is wet is a big no-no, so you’ve got a great excuse to not do it until later!
Be aware of your cord. It can be all very well taking precautions when using your appliances outdoors, but things can always go wrong, especially if you’re moving around a lot. If you’re using a bladed appliance such as a mower or hedge-trimmer, make sure you know at all times where the power cord is and how close you are to it. Slicing into a cord can cause serious damage to both yourself and the appliance.
If using an appliance outside that isn’t really meant to be outside, such as a stereo or television, keep an eye on it for things that may cause it damage. Nature has …

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Checklist For Industrial Clothing – Highway Work Zone Safety

Highway work zones carry a number of potential hazards. Consider safety issues that come with construction jobs in general and then factor in high speed traffic, night time work, exposure to the elements how much wood is left and additional hazards that road crews face. Personal protective equipment, or PPE, is essential on the job site, along with safe working procedures and engineering guards, to ensure worker safety.
The list of hazards for road crews is long, so here is a checklist of industrial supplies and the industrial clothing that will serve as PPE.
Industrial Clothing As PPE
The clothing that workers wear on the job counts for a large portion of comprehensive personal protection equipment. Industrial clothing covers the majority of the body and with the right materials and accessories will provide a significant layer of protection. At the basic level, heavy duty apparel will provide protection against cuts and abrasions along with weather and temperature conditions.
Industrial clothing is the foundation of visibility on the job site. When working at night or during either of the twilight rush hours, motorists traveling at highway speeds will have difficulty spotting workers and stopping their vehicles if necessary. In fact, motorists non ferrous metals business will need about 1200 feet of stopping distance. High visibility clothing is designed to offer roadside visibility up to a minimum of 1200 feet. Visibility work standards require the use of retro-reflective materials on the chest, arms, and legs to outline a worker.
Specialty apparel is also used to address other hazards on the job. Even in construction, there are fire hazards present. Gasoline and diesel fuels all have the potential to emit flammable vapors that can ignite if not stored correctly. Paints and solvents are also flammable along with resins and epoxies. Hot work carries the potential of flash fires and arc fires, both of which occur in only an instant but are still life-threatening. Flame resistant clothing and coatings will reduce the severity of fire and heat related injuries. Self-extinguishing, non conductive and non flammable materials and coatings will save lives.
Integrating Head, Face, And Eye Protection
Safety culture has come a long way over the years and one of the best advances has been the ubiquitous use of hard hats. Across every job site, workers are wearing hard hats around the clock, offering the best protection against nearly any impact blow to the head. Hard hats have also evolved to being able to support a number of personal protective functions with accessories and attachments.
Being able to integrate many safety features into one piece of equipment is essential for ensuring good safety practices and that PPE is actually used as instructed. Hardhats can be outfitted with ear plugs, ear muffs, face shields, goggles, and welder’s masks in order to extend protection to the face, eyes, and ears.
When using PPE to protect these vital areas, all equipment needs to be routinely inspected. Hardhats should be replaced after sustaining any major blow, even if …

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Checklist for Smoke Detectors in Your Home

The humble smoke detector has the potential of being the most important investment you’ll ever make. If the unthinkable happens and a part your house catches fire, it will give you enough time to save your family, yourself and hopefully your house.
To make sure you’re savvy with smoke detectors, industrial wastewater treatment technologies here’s a quick checklist for your home.
Before installing, ensure the batteries are fresh and run a test to make sure it works. Also be sure to fasten it properly.
House size. The orientation and size of your house will dictate how many detectors you’re going to need. Place them where they will be of the most use. Alarms should be placed on every floor of a house in a central area and in every sleeping room. Most new houses are built with smoke detectors already installed. If this is the case, double check your requirements; you may need more.
Scheduled testing of your smoke detectors will ensure they’re in good running order. Batteries can run low and leak, so don’t assume that the battery you put in there a few years ago is still good.
Damage. The smoke detector needs to be kept in good condition throughout its life and should look generally the same as when you bought it. If it is damaged in some way, either through falling off the roof or being bumped with something, perform a test immediately and more factors affecting supply regularly for a while afterwards. It is worthwhile keeping a couple of spare detectors around the house. If you’re painting your walls or ceilings, do not paint over the detector. They are sensitive instruments and painting over them will most likely render them useless.
Replacement. Smoke detectors are constantly being updated and the requirements surrounding them are changing too. Check every now and then to see if regulations have been altered and change your detectors accordingly.…

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