When you think about the things in your business that need regular maintenance, you probably think about things you use every day. Vehicles, machinery, even technology. What you might not think of are the things that “blend into the background” – the things that just work, and you only notice when they don’t work.
For a lot of businesses, their security system can often fall into this category. But just like the things you use everyday, it should be subject to regular maintenance too.
Here are 3 reasons why getting your security system regular serviced is so important.
You want it working when you need it most
As we mentioned in the introduction, your security system is one of the things you don’t necessarily notice until it’s not working as it should be. Whether it’s a CCTV camera you had installed and then forgot was there, or an intruder alarm sensor you “keep meaning to get fixed”, it’s easy for a problem to go unnoticed, or unresolved, for sometime. This isn’t necessarily a problem during the day-to-day, but in the event of an incident, it certainly will be. Keeping your security system well maintained ensures that it’s performing at its best when you need it to be. This means you’ve always got that peace of mind.
Standards and regulations
For some security features, it’s a requirement under EU and British health and safety regulations to have them regularly serviced. For fire alarms, this is governed by BS 5389, which states that not only should you carry out a weekly fire alarm system test, but also that any problems with your system should be reported and attended to by your fire protection provider within 24 hours. Having a pre-agreed service and maintenance agreement makes this process a lot easier and smoother – and you’ll continue to ensure that this vital measure is in place in the event of an emergency. For automatic gates and barriers, there’s the Machinery Directive, which again dictates that to be compliant the machinery should be subject to regular maintenance, and that a service history should be maintained. The safe operation of automatic gates in your business is vital – they are significant pieces of machinery which if not operating correctly could cause serious injury or death.
Insurance requirements
Safety and security measures such as intruder alarms, fire alarms and CCTV systems are subject to the procedures dictated by insurance companies, as well as the police and fire safety organisations. If your system is not regularly maintained and therefore not working correctly in the event of an incident, it’s likely that you won’t be able to recoup your losses from insurance, or pursue legal action via the police. For example, in order to ensure that you’re eligible for a police response in a break-in situation, your intruder alarm system should be monitored by an NSI accredited provider – and with this comes the need for regular maintenance, ensuring the centre is receiving a signal from your system and the correct procedure can be followed.
Century Secure Group UK Ltd support many organisations in the Midlands and beyond with security system service and maintenance. Our knowledgeable, experienced, DBS checked engineers can be on-hand 24/7 should you need them to proactively respond to faults in your system. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch.
