Published Friday -23 January-2026
Peter Davies
Compliance alone doesn’t save lives. Clarity does.
Fire extinguisher signage can be technically correct, tick every box in the code…
but in an emergency, nobody is calmly scanning walls and reading signs. They’re panicked, vision is narrowed, adrenaline is high.
That red floor-to-ceiling stripe turns it into human-centred safety, not paperwork safety.
It applies everywhere 👇
- AEDs that are compliant but hidden = useless in a cardiac arrest
- Eyewash stations behind kit = seconds lost that matter
- Electrical panels with faded or confusing labels = delays and mistakes
- First aid kits “somewhere in the building” = no help when it’s needed
Everyone assumes:
“Someone will know where it is.”
Until the moment comes… and no one does.
This is the difference between:
- Risk assessments written
- Risk actually reduced
Good premises management isn’t about meeting the minimum standard.
It’s about asking the harder question:
“Could a stressed, untrained person find this in under 5 seconds?”
If the answer isn’t a clear yes, it’s not safe — no matter what the paperwork says.
This is exactly the kind of quiet, practical improvement that never gets noticed…
until the day it really, really matters.
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