𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 & 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠

Against the backdrop of several rounds of load shedding in recent days, a warning has been issued for home owners and business owners to test security systems. “We recommend that people test these systems on a regular basis, but this has become more important now than ever before. The battery backup is a crucial element that needs to be tested, to give you the ease of mind that it will still offer monitoring and protection when the power goes out,” says Charnel Hattingh, Head of Marketing and Communication at Fidelity ADT. A recent survey by Santam, SA’s leading short-term insurer, reveals opportunistic crime as a result of security systems not operating properly has increased during load shedding. Marius Neethling, Personal Lines Underwriting Manager at Santam says almost a third of survey respondents said that their appliances had been damaged by a possible power surge due to load shedding. A further 21% make use of generators, some 30% are not sure that their generators are SABS certified and properly connected. During load shedding there is an increased risk of damage to sensitive electronic items caused by power surges as well as fires. Hattingh adds that if you have a stable and correctly programmed security system coupled with a battery that is in a good condition, "it will continue to protect your home or your place of work during any power outage.” '𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒔' The increased occurrence of load shedding means that there are more alarm activation signals received by armed response companies than usual. “If the alarm is triggered because of a power surge or because of load shedding, please contact your security company as soon as possible to cancel any false alarms. This helps ensure that armed response officers are allocated to legitimate emergencies. We have introduced an automated call centre ‘agent’ to make it easier for customers to quickly cancel false alarms, which also frees up call centre staff members to concentrate on legitimate emergencies,” says Hattingh. 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐬: 1. Always remain vigilant, and report suspicious activity in your suburb to the SAP 2. Ensure that all automated gates and doors are secured 3. With the added inconvenience of the lights going out at night due to power cuts, candles and touch-lights are handy alternatives 4. Test the battery backup system and consider an additional battery pack for standby. Tests of alarm systems should ideally be conducted every six months 5. Power cuts can impact on fire systems and fire control systems, so these also need to be checked regularly 6. The more frequent use of gas and candles can increase the risk of fire and home fire extinguishers should be on hand The only time any alarm system might not function correctly, is if there is a technical issue or the battery power is low. “𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑚 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘-𝑢𝑝 𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒. 𝑊𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑢𝑝 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑘, 𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑦,” she says. 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: * Arriving or leaving home: Ensure that you are especially alert when arriving or leaving your home after dark, as the street lights and your outside lighting may not be functioning. * Automated gates and garage doors: Ensure that a back-up battery is installed and in a working order. Ensure that you have ways to enter and exit your home if your electric security gates and garage door are not functioning due to load shedding. Keep the keys to the gate motors in an accessible safe * Alternative light sources: Invest in re-chargeable solar, camping, battery operated or LED lights, which are much safer than candles or paraffin lamps. * Generators: Make sure your generator is professionally installed, and never store more than 20 litres of fuel in your house. Test your generator frequently, and remember to have a fire extinguisher on site. * Surge protection: You can buy a surge protector for your electric mains board, as well as surge protector plug adaptors, at most leading hardware stores. Surge protectors at the main distribution board should be installed by a certified electrician. * Electric fencing: Your electric fence should have a back-up battery, which needs to be tested regularly and replaced if needed.