Fires caused by electrical faults kill people every year, but even when they don’t kill people they can kill businesses. Ensuring that your buildings are safe means that you are fulfilling your responsibility as a duty holder. Living with the knowledge that you could have prevented death or serious injury by maintaining your building would be unbearable. In addition, there is also the very real threat of criminal prosecution that businesses and duty-holders could face under the Corporate Manslaughter Act or other health and safety legislation.
Even when electrical fires don’t kill anyone, the consequences for businesses can be devastating. Insurance companies can be slow to support you, customers will be forced to go elsewhere while you carry out vital repairs, and suddenly a business that you have carefully built up can be swept away. When you weigh up the cost of a fire against the cost of an EICR, an EICR is money well-spent.
Many such incidents could have been avoided if adequate electrical inspections had been carried out. By making sure that you have an Electrical Installation Condition Reports, EICR, by an experienced, competent electrician or electrical engineer who holds the required qualifications, you are ensuring that you have protected your building and the people inside it. This is in line with your responsibilities as duty holder, as laid out by law.
As we use more and more technology in our homes and places of work, the burden placed upon electrical installations becomes heavier. Often in buildings we are using installations that were designed and installed before our obsession with technology was undreamt of, that were adequate for purpose at that time. The rise in our use of technology has exploded over recent years, and sometimes this means our electrics no longer fit for purpose, but without correct testing you can’t see that there may be an accident waiting to happen. It is now more imperative than ever to ensure that your electrics are safe. Electrical fires are on the rise, don’t let your building become another terrible statistic.
“In the last year, the proportion of fire claims caused by electrical faults has risen by 35%, now accounting for over a quarter (27%) of overall fire claims, according to figures from Co-op Insurance.” To read the rest of this report from the Co-Operative, click here.
Contact Black Pear Electrical to book your EICR today and ensure that you are doing your upmost to keep your building, and the people who use it, safe. For more information, or to discuss your requirements, call us now on 01905 700490
