Any building needs to have structural protection in place in case of emergency.
This becomes extra true in buildings that have a large number of people in them or in industrial areas where forklifts and other vehicles can damage walls or doors.
Protecting your building from disaster includes utilizing emergency lighting systems that can highlight an exit strategy and making use of Eagle wall protectors that keep vehicles from damaging loadbearing parts of the building.
Here is some advice on how to best implement both.
Evacuation Aids
Getting everybody out of a building safely is the most important part of any emergency plan.
To that end, people need to be able to locate the exits and find a clear path of egress.
The best way to provide these options is with the use of clear signage and industrial emergency lighting systems.
An emergency lighting system comes with a battery backup so that even if the building loses power the lights can shine brightly.
These lights are usually LED, making them bright enough that others can see them through thick smoke.
You should review the placement and maintenance of these lights on a regular basis, ensuring that they are ready for use at a moment’s notice.
Wall Protectors
Walls do more than just keep the elements at bay; they also provide structural integrity to the building as a whole.
In loading docks and other areas that see high vehicle traffic, the risk of impact between a vehicle and a wall is an ever-present danger.
These problems can be mitigated through the use of wall protectors.
Such products serve as hard plastic bumpers that absorb impacts which would otherwise hit the walls of a building.
You should place a wall protector around areas that are likely to come in contact with a vehicle due to frequency of traffic.
For most industrial areas, the loading dock is a prime candidate for extra protection.
Column Protectors
A column protector functions in much the same way as a wall protector, save that it goes all the way around a loadbearing column to make sure that it is resistant to impact and damage.
You don’t necessarily need to put a protector around every column in your building, but you should carefully consider which areas see traffic that might warrant such protection.
For example, if a forklift goes through a particular area, even a wide one where it is easy to steer around a column, you should put a column protector in place.
Accidents happen even when it seems like they should be easy to prevent, and it is better to be prepared than to have to rush to fix something in an emergency.
To make your building safe, you need to keep it standing. Using clear emergency signage combined with wall and column protectors will keep everything safe and structurally sound.
This will lead to a safer and more comfortable work environment, which will, in turn, make every employee that much happier, no matter what may come.