How a preventative maintenance plan and regularly scheduled thermal imaging inspections can help keep your business afloat.

Often, a business owner is unaware of an electrical fault within their company until a failure presents itself and forces a closure or worse, a fire. These incidents can be costly and in the most extreme cases, lifechanging.  

Before an electrical component burns up, it heats up. Meaning, that if you do your due diligence, a potential system failure can be addressed before it even gets the chance to disrupt your flow.  

This is where preventative maintenance and thermal imaging inspection become essential elements of the electrical process.  

What Is A Thermal Imaging Inspection?  

Here at Haines Electrical Service, whether your business focuses on leisure, retail, office spaces, healthcare, factories, or multifamily housing, we’re here to help you keep business running smoothly and avoid unnecessary costs. 

We do this by sitting down with commercial business owners and creating a preventative maintenance plan. Preventative maintenance is the concept of regularly performing maintenance on a piece of equipment to lessen the likelihood of it failing in the future. It is also the number one approach by any electrician for maintaining overall safety and efficiency, as it allows us to detect faults before they occur.  

An essential element of any preventative maintenance plan is a thermal imaging inspection. A non-invasive diagnostic technique that allows us to visualise and quantify changes in the surface temperature of electrical switchgear, bearings, gearboxes, transformers, motors, plants and production equipment.  

The Process & The Tools  

The most common electrical faults are loose connections, overloads, imbalanced circuits, faulty equipment, damaged switches and faulty fuses. All of these faults can cause equipment to heat up and create what is referred to as a hot component, the number one reason for system failures and fires. 

Using a thermal camera – a sophisticated device, which consists of a heat sensor that holds the capacity to pick up minute differences in temperature, while gathering infrared radiation, a certified electrician can identify possible equipment flaws and pinpoint any hot components that are not already visible to the naked eye.  

An early indication of a hot component will allow a fully qualified Haines electrician to come into your business and take the necessary steps to prevent circuits from becoming overloaded, and cables from melting, arcing and sparking.  

All of the faults discussed above can be easily be prevented through regularly scheduled thermal imaging inspections. It is recommended to schedule an inspection once every 12 months.  

All About the Benefits   

Business owners will directly benefit from regular thermal imaging inspections in a few different ways:  

1. Non – Destructive Approach – An electrician is able to easily identify heat-related issues without having to disconnect the power or destroy equipment. This means you can keep business running as usual and avoid falling behind on production, keeping in line with your deadlines.  

2. Cost-Effective – It is more expensive to shut down production and replace a broken unit (which is likely what will be required without regular maintenance); than to have a yearly routine checkup. Furthermore, should you do nothing, and a fire were to occur, or an employee/customer was to be injured, you’ll find yourself digging into your wallet for a new building, a new lawsuit, a way to keep your business afloat etc.  

3. Ensures Safety – Routine inspections allow business owners to breath easy knowing their business is in tip-top shape and that they have greatly reduced their chances of experiencing a fire or workplace injury.  

4. Insurance Obligations – Some businesses are required to have thermal imaging inspections completed by their insurance company. Furthermore, whether mandatory or not, businesses who do happen to have a preventative maintenance plan in place are likely to see a decrease in their premiums.  

Alternatives & Doing Nothing at All  

There has been no other commercial approach that has been as successful as electrical infrared thermography.  

Originally, a qualified electrician was required to walk around the entire plant and tighten every single electrical contact point. This process was not ideal as it leads to unfair labour, inaccurate results, and longer downtimes as businesses must wait for an electrician to make rounds on the whole plant.  

The worst possible alternative is choosing to do nothing at all. This approach is a fire hazard, can lead to longer downtimes, is extremely expensive, can cause loss of production, staff injuries, unfavourable press coverage and can lead to legal issues.  

In fact, the Australian Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 states that all businesses owe a duty of care to both employees and clients to provide a safe environment. Failure to regularly check equipment directly puts anyone in the building at risk and as a result, makes the business owner solely responsible for any incidents that arise.  

Let Haines Electrical Service Take Care of It 

Are you a commercial business owner in Brisbane who wants the best for their company? If so, working with Haines Electrical Service to come up with a preventative maintenance plan is the way to go.  

After conducting an initial thermographic survey, our electrician will provide you with a detailed thermographic inspection report. The report will let you know what’s been inspected, any areas of concern, the extent of the damage and if any hotspots were discovered. After this, based on the urgency of your repair, we can set up an appointment to correct the problem.  

Here at Haines Electrical Service, our ultimate goal will always be helping our clients maintain an efficient and safe business through long term relationships. That’s why we’re always ready and willing to provide you with an experienced electrician whenever you need, for whatever you need.  

However, our electricians can’t help you fix the problem if we are not aware that it exists. Take the first step and reach out to Haines Electrical Services at 1300 424 353 today, so we can get started on keeping your business protected.