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How unlikely is unlikely?

How often have we all heard the term ‘in the unlikely event’? Hearing this on every aircraft trip we take seems to desensitise us to the fact that we are being made aware of how to get off the plane in a hurry if something goes wrong.

The only people who bother to pay attention to this brief instruction session seem to be those under 10 years old and that is only because of a fascination with the oxygen paraphernalia.

This 'it will never happen to me' attitude to potentially fatal eventualities has unfortunately filtered into the South African security industry, where price is everything and protection of human beings comes a very poor second.

There is an alarming tendency on the part of installers to cut corners and to justify this approach by wielding the 'price related market' defence. On recent site visits we at Honeywell-TeqTrader have come across some atrocious fire detection and control system installations - a frightening prospect.

Understandably, there is huge emphasis on protection of property in the face of a staggering crime rate - installing access control and CCTV - but still not enough planning on how to evacuate people from buildings in an emergency or a disaster.

People in office blocks can become familiar with fire escapes and alternative exit routes just by being in the building on a day-to-day basis, but what about people who are not in a building every day - those visiting hospitals, banks, municipal buildings and so on?

If a fire broke out or something exploded, how would these people be safely evacuated?

Cost effective but inferior products invariably make for a loss of protection in the critical areas of a building, particularly from a human point of view. Systems which do not undergo proper testing and third party approval inspections ultimately cannot guarantee functionality in emergency conditions.

Many insurance companies are contributing to this issue by looking at providing the cheapest packages mostly focused on protection of property and movable assets. Where are the basic requirements for safety of human life in occupied buildings?

And they are not the only ones to blame. Every single person who contributes to the construction and management of a building should be accountable for their commitment to sound safety standards and installation practices. And here is another one - the workforce, the public, clients should also wake up and start asking questions about the systems in place to protect them.

When it comes to the cars we drive, most of us know what kind of safety features to ask for - yet we are blissfully content to believe that if we find ourselves on the 20th floor of an office block and a fire breaks out on the 15th floor, we will be safely guided out of the building.

What is needed is accountability and the acknowledgement that the most important assets of any company are its human capital.

What are you going to do in the unlikely event of a disaster in your building?

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